January 13, 2009 8:50 AM PST

Windows 7 beta gets a mascot

by Ina Fried
  • Font size
  • Print
  • 38 comments

The Windows 7 beta features the Siamese fighting fish, also known as a betta fish.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)

Look closely at the desktop when you boot up Windows 7 for the first time. That's not just any fish you see on the desktop.

It's a specific type of Siamese fighting fish, also known as a betta fish. Get it?

Although pronounced like the Greek letter beta, the fish gets its name "from ikan bettah, taken from a local dialect of Thailand," according to Wikipedia.

For the record, I'm no fish expert, but as I was re-installing Windows 7 last night, my partner, AJ, turned to me and said, "Hey, it's a betta fish." Following the old journalism adage "trust, but verify," I double-checked with Microsoft.

Two points for AJ.

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.


Recent posts from Beyond Binary
Visual Studio launch delayed by 'a few weeks'
Glitches mar launch of Livescribe app store
Windows 7 leaving Redmond's help desk less busy
Microsoft top lawyer: EU deal opens new chapter
Microsoft: We did copy Plurk's code
Boeing's 787 takes flight
Hands-on with the Entourage Edge
Microsoft's server chief talks cloud (Q&A)
Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 2 pages (38 Comments)
by January 13, 2009 9:03 AM PST
"I'm know fish expert" or "I'm no fish expert"?
Reply to this comment
by dragonbite January 13, 2009 9:17 AM PST
I expect to find a wallpaper with the same fish, but floating upside-down ;)
Reply to this comment
by isaacfarache November 5, 2009 8:42 AM PST
Photoshop it!
by Vegaman_Dan January 13, 2009 9:25 AM PST
Such lonely lives for those fish. You see them for sale in cups of water at stores. Beautiful and needing no aeration beyond just clean water.

I do admit using one in the wallpaper is clever. I wonder how it slipped by Microsoft's final checklist to make it into the build. :)
Reply to this comment
by oce.net January 13, 2009 9:28 AM PST
They have a pet betta fish in one of the local offices. When I first saw it- it very much appeared to be dead. I was assured later on that it wasn't- that was just something they did. The fact that it continues to be out in its fish bowl to this day implies that they're correct- and thus a dead looking betta fish is hardly a dead fish at all.

Fun stuff!
Reply to this comment
by bbabadu January 13, 2009 9:31 AM PST
Slow news day eh Ina?
Reply to this comment
by The_happy_switcher January 13, 2009 9:31 AM PST
And if you don't feed it lots of antivirus, antispyware, antimalware software it goes belly up in a matter of minutes like most infected windows machines.
Reply to this comment
by oce.net January 13, 2009 9:37 AM PST
Yes- if the Windows box is already infected- its probably going to have issues. Very odd statement of yours. Also- most Windows machines- especially post Vista SP1 can handle themselves perfectly well.
by The_happy_switcher January 13, 2009 9:49 AM PST
"Very odd statement of yours. " I think in some cultures the statement would be construed as a joke.
by shellcodes_coder January 13, 2009 9:50 AM PST
Look at this CrApple moron, he has nothing to do with iCrap but just watch and edit movies. Why are CrApple fans all ignorant?
by Kev_Orng January 13, 2009 10:09 AM PST
@shellcodes. Why are those who assume all Apple users are ignorant, more likely to use terms like CrApple and Fanboy? Because they're children, that's why.

Windows users behave no better than Mac users when OS debates spring up. In fact, they often behave worse - they are the first to call someone a childish name. A Mac user says Windows has X problem (accurate or not), and the Windows user calls the Mac User an ignorant fanboy. You call this intelligent discourse?
by Mr. Dee January 13, 2009 10:11 AM PST
Steve Jobs told people like you at Macworld 1997 to go get a life.
by Seaspray0 January 13, 2009 3:32 PM PST
@applerocks. Brought to you by the guy who flamed windows 7 on the day it came out without even trying it. What a TROLL.
by The_happy_switcher January 13, 2009 4:26 PM PST
When Microsoft puts out an OS that doesn't require the computer to wear an antivirus, antispyware condom 24/7 give me a ring.

[CNET editors' note: Offensive content deleted.]
by D3vildog699 January 13, 2009 7:06 PM PST
Applerocks:

Name calling.. wow.... congrats your at the regular mac user maturity
by n0cturne74 January 13, 2009 9:33 AM PST
notice in the system tray that the network adapter has a red "x" on it. Funny, I have the same thing on mine because the stupid beta version can't find my network adapter. Goooo MS!
Reply to this comment
by fortyonejb January 13, 2009 9:38 AM PST
a beta version of an operating system that has bugs, or God forbid, not every driver? oh the horror!!

please leave your FUD at the door, we don't want it from microsoft and we don't want it from you.
by ausernamenoonehaschosen January 13, 2009 9:47 AM PST
No, but this is a rather large problem for something getting so much hype for being so rock solid right now.
by bbabadu January 13, 2009 12:05 PM PST
Try plugging in an ethernet cable, get online, and get Windows updates, it found the wireless driver and solved the problem for me.
by tm_anon January 13, 2009 2:11 PM PST
Ubuntu does the same thing. Once you update the drivers with a wired connection, the wireless works 99.95% of the time. I don't say 100% because it might lose connection while I'm asleep and I just don't know about it.
by wolivere January 13, 2009 4:23 PM PST
The X is on the Flag is it for that or is it about installing a AV program?
by Kev_Orng January 13, 2009 9:39 AM PST
1. I thought it was going to be a puffer fish.
A betta doesn't seem like a good mascot. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when you try to connect it to a network; we know how bettas feel about their brethren.

2. Charles Dickens also got paid for each post, so you're in good company.
Reply to this comment
by dragonbite January 13, 2009 9:52 AM PST
As for networking, you know what male Beta fish do when they are put in the same tank?!!


(hint: only one of them gets out alive!)
by linuxgeek90 January 13, 2009 9:59 AM PST
Brilliant!
Reply to this comment
by nappyjim January 13, 2009 10:11 AM PST
The red x is located on the 'Action Center" icon. This does not mean its a network card issue. It could mean something as simple as, "you don't have automatic updates turned on".

If your gonna make comments and bad mouth a BETA, at least know what your talking about.
Reply to this comment
by tm_anon January 13, 2009 2:43 PM PST
You may want to read the comment you're critiqueing a bit more carefully. He mentioned having the beta which gives the reason he saw the same exact problem as on his own. He wasn't badmouthing anything, just pointing out a flaw which was obvious to him as it shows exactly the same in the photo displayed in the article.
by wolivere January 13, 2009 4:24 PM PST
tm_anon

How do you know its the same problem? It's in the action center. Its an assumption, not a conclusion
by nappyjim January 13, 2009 10:12 AM PST
The red x is located on the 'Action Center" icon. This does not mean its a network card issue. It could mean something as simple as, "you don't have automatic updates turned on".

If your gonna make comments and bad mouth a BETA, at least know what your talking about.
Reply to this comment
by Inconnux January 13, 2009 10:17 AM PST
I had a betta fish once... I named it 'alpha' :)
Reply to this comment
by Cube Over January 13, 2009 10:20 AM PST
pretty fishy stuff!
Reply to this comment
by PammyLZ January 13, 2009 11:08 AM PST
I kept bettas for awhile. If you put them in a 5 gallon tank, with a small filter and a heater, the betta will come alive. Swimming crazy-happy, investigating everything, and wiggles with happiness when it's food time. It kills me to see them in unfiltered, unheated bowls.. or worse: a plant vase. I like the desktop picture shown above because the little guy looks like he's in a very big tank! :) Someone at microsoft knows how to take care of a betta fish.

And so far, Windows 7 has been working great for me on all my computers. I installed it on my dad's desktop, and there were issues with the networking. But installing a vista driver fixed the issue. Although there is still no love for the Creative sound cards.
Reply to this comment
by BrandonLive January 13, 2009 11:52 AM PST
Nobody bothered to count the bubbles? :)
Reply to this comment
by D3vildog699 January 13, 2009 7:04 PM PST
SAH--WEET a Fish!!!
Reply to this comment
by sunder1990 January 14, 2009 1:02 AM PST
there seems to problem even when Win7 deals with its cousin Vista. read it at http://techfreakindia.blogspot.com
Reply to this comment
by Neo Con January 14, 2009 8:53 AM PST
doveryai, no proveryai...

Yes, it was used by journalist Damon Runyon, but it's not really an "old journalism adage," at least not one that modern journalists currently subscribe to. Today, it's more along the lines of R = liar, D = messiah.

Anyway, "trust but verify" was popularized in the 20th century by Ronald Reagan, who used it almost every time he met with Mikhail Gorbachev, and frequently in discussions of the Soviet Union.

Just thought I'd interject a little fun factoid. :)
Reply to this comment
by Ciofey January 17, 2009 12:54 AM PST
So let me get this straight: The Windows 7 mascot is a fish that does not play well with other fishes, and dies within a few months?
Reply to this comment
by vishnu--2008 February 13, 2009 11:16 PM PST
Installed Windows 7 on an asus eee and it says windows can't find a driver for the network adapter. plugged in an ethernet cable and same thing. so how do i get this driver adapter if i can't get online? and if i do get it, will it automatically be installed or what will i have to do?
apple person tryyyyyying to work with windows
Reply to this comment
Showing 1 of 2 pages (38 Comments)
advertisement

Behind the scenes: NORAD's Santa tracker

For decades, the defense group has let you follow the Christmas Eve travels of the jolly old elf. These days, technology is playing a bigger role than ever.

Intel redesigns Atom chip for Netbooks

The chipmaker officially announces the next generation of its popular Atom CPUs for Netbooks, the N450, weeks before the CES trade show.

About Beyond Binary

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.


Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Beyond Binary topics

Binary Bits

    Follow Ina on Twitter (Twitter name: InaFried)
    advertisement
    advertisement

    Inside CNET News

    Scroll Left Scroll Right