Microsoft chugs toward Windows 7 release
Microsoft isn't confirming just when Windows 7 will launch, but it is hoping that the fact that not too much has changed between the release candidate and beta versions will convince people that the product is nearly ready.
Subscribers to Microsoft's MSDN and TechNet developer programs will have access to the release candidate version starting Thursday, while the general public will have to wait until May 5. That said, users may not notice a huge difference between the two versions at first glance.
"We're not adding a ton of things," said Corporate Vice President Mike Nash in an interview. "Most of the changes are fit-and-finish things."
The company didn't say how many people it hopes will try out the version, which is expected to be the last public test version before Microsoft declares Windows 7 soup. Nash did say he is hoping plenty of IT professionals use the product at work and home and also that any lingering partners make sure they have tested their products.
Among the changes from the beta release are a more final version of Internet Explorer 8 and the expansion of a media-sharing feature to allow unprotected videos and music to be accessed remotely over the Internet.
Microsoft also said in February it would modify Windows 7 to require authorization before changes are made to the settings for a controversial user account control feature. Microsoft intentionally made the alerts less frequent in Windows 7 than they were in Vista, but some people complained that the specific changes Microsoft made also made it less secure.
In addition to the RC itself, Microsoft is also making available a beta version of XP Mode, an add-on to Windows 7 that uses virtualization to run programs that run in XP but not in Windows Vista.
Windows 7 is widely expected to be released in time for this year's holiday shopping season--a goal that one top executive said recently is "accomplishable," although Microsoft has stopped short of guaranteeing that.
"We have work to do before we can definitively say it's a holiday product," Nash said. "So far the feedback is very positive."
Perhaps the biggest issue with the release candidate is the fact that Microsoft did not make it easy to go from the beta version directly to the release candidate. Microsoft is recommending users either upgrade from Windows Vista or do a clean installation of the operating system.
Microsoft acknowledged this is a hassle, but said the move will allow it to get more feedback on the more standard upgrade paths most users will take and prevents it from having to support what it says is a non-standard case--moving from beta to RC. (I've heard grumbling from users both inside and outside the company over that call.)
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. 
This is where it would help Microsoft to put Cd samplers where those old AOL CDs used to be.
I am actually a fan of Microsoft's software and hardware (so not anti-Microsoft) but I also have to agree.
I don?t' know if you should get a full refund but wonder if the cost of upgrading from Vista to 7 specifically should be at a substantially reduced cost. I like Vista and maybe it's a testament to 7, but side by side performance wise, Vista is a bit of a dog (Have run both on the same Compaq 6710b notebook).
Man, people can be whiners. Of course it's going to be less secure- UAC isn't going to be popping up all the time so it'll be easier for malicious programs to pop up. You can't whine about over-protective services and then, when they've toned it down, whine that it's not as good as it was before.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Release Candidate. I already have a partition on my HDD ready for it's install. It'll be interesting to see how far they've come since the beta- which I haven't used since Feburary.
UAC got a bad rap, not so much of the implementation, but because of how much software required admin rights for no good reason. Why do I need admin rights to run an HTML editor (eg. Dreamweaver 2004)? I can understand why I would need admin rights for a registry editor or a similar system tool, but an HTML editor?
Furthermore, Apple has had user authentication since the first public release of Mac OS X, but it hasn't caused the same amount of user revulsion nevermind that in OSX you have to actually type in your admin password instead of simply pressing next like you can under Vista. Apple hasn't had the same amount of problems because software developers have purposely avoided requiring admin rights unless needed. Windows developers have relied upon the expectation that they automatically get admin elevation so a lot of application expect admin rights even if there is no good reason for it.
The only implementation change I think that Microsoft should have made was to copy the Unix model of by default giving a 300 second window for admin elevation.
Type out a normal password for you.
Now tell me, how difficult would it be to create a program that not only finds out what your password is but also one that will type that password and "click" Enter all without you knowing about it and without having to be installed in the first place?
Now, click your mouse. How difficult would it be to create a program that clicks the mouse over and over again without having to install it first?
Because the password must be typed and authenticated before the program will install, the user will always be in control of what is being installed on the machine. At the very least, it will be much more difficult to install that program. The only effective way to take control of a machine with limited user rights and the need to type in a password prior to installing software is by piggy backing the malware on something the user wants to install.
With Vista and Windows 7, you click 'OK' over and over again. Software can be made to click 'OK' over and over again very easily. It can even be made to monitor the clock on your PC so it runs at 3am when you're asleep and you'd never know you have the keylogger or other piece of malware all because UAC only requires you to mindlessly click 'OK' instead of typing out your password.
Windows 7, yet another dud, defective product out of the box. Just as ie8 is/was.
Just wait until it is released. The Vista betas showed a good OS, but the gold version broke drivers, was slow and used a metric ton of memory.
It is not popular moron. People don't really have a choice do they? What comes with that low quality $500 system? Do the customers get to choose what OS is put on it?
Oh right. Can I still get Tiger on a new Macbook then?
LOL!
Sorry, but "final" is a boolean. Something is either final or it isn't.
Same as IE7 for Vista/XP... Vista's has a few additional features, such as Protected Mode and the hand scroll (tablets mostly, but nifty with mouse).
Win7's IE8 will be slightly different than the XP/Vista version of IE8, and currently is not complete.
Amen
Amen
Amen
Good luck! I'm rooting for ya! ;P
If you don't want the respect, well then bring out the troll tents.
P.S. Sarcasm makes my day go by faster. :\
Amen
I think you forgot to turn off your macro triggers again. It's auto posting the same thing to any story that mentions Microsoft.
Try mixing it up a bit. Call for a broken leg now and then. Perhaps you could wish every single employee, their families, and all those end users who use Microsoft products to suffer a case of the sniffles. Or even wish that alien Elvis clones will be invading Des Moines, Iowa or something.
Come on, be creative and entertaining if you are going to be trolling about. :)
Come on, be creative!
posting crap on every article with MS in its name
now would you mind turning it off?
you have your freedom of speech
I have my freedom of speech too
I say you are a mindless troll that has drunk too much koolaid
Sheeez.
I want to know how well RC1 will play with my video hardware (I've had some ATI driver issues). I also want to know if some bugs with laptops resuming from sleep have been resolved. (My wifi radio in my laptop has to be disabled/enabled after every sleep.)
Screenshots of the install process (boring) and idle speculation tell me nothing about usability.
And, yeah, the "almost-final" IE8 is funny, considering that IE8 itself went final some time ago. Anyone still in denial about IE being tightly bound to the OS?
Driver issues from ATI are likely due to the fact that ATI wasn't ready to support the beta (though I had no issues with my x1950pro). If you've managed to make the beta stable, RC1 drivers are no different with the exception of returning legacy mode install capabilities.
I had a problem with the wifi / sleep issue as well, I'm hoping for a fix in the RC. Guess I'll know later today.
I have found W7 to be a big pain...
It seems like such a giant flaw. Maybe they're going after a new way of organizing that I just don't get
There never was a "pin to quick list".
the entire bar IS the quick launch bar. Anything in QL are apps you commonly use. That is the point of the entire bar. And its not like its taking up more space by having your commonly used apps because you no longer have launch icons + running apps on the same bar. They are one and the same. It?s time for Windows users to pick up the old Apple mantra that Apple has long since dropped: Think different. (Their new one is Think money grubbing corporation that is to innovation now a days as Bill Gates is to a Strong Man contest.
Many people have gotten so use to using XP for 8+/- years that they are simply incapable of looking at something different to see if it might be a better way of doing things.
I expect that people will be using xp well into the next decade and few die-hards will last until the decade after that.
I bought a Vista Laptop, powerfull chipset and video processor, upgraded the RAM to 4GB and this thing STILL SUCKS!!
For email, internet and microsoft office it works. Beyond that, I don't even bother anymore its a POS. Gaming is a joke, DVDs lag, picture and video editing is not an enjoyable experience with the software that comes with Vista, so additional software would be needed to do this well.
I then purchased a Mac... similar specs, and what a difference. It Just Works!
I've not had to purchase additional software, it came with iLife, and that software package is so easy to use, and effective. Music & podcasts, Pics, Videos to Youtube etc. all can be edited and played with, the thing makes it so easy.
Example: My printer:
30 minutes and two errors installing into Vista.
4 minutes and two clicks installing into OSX Leopard
No More Windows in my house...
so do these peoples Vista! Funny
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=11&qpcustom=Windows+Vista
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=9&qpcustom=Mac
Adding a printer in Vista took me less than two minutes for a Minolta 2400 color laser USB printer. That beats your Apple install. What does that say about your claim? It says that your results may vary and anyone who bases their opinion on such is just blain silly.
Of course, the problem could be something else entirely, like PEBKAC.
"Mac... similar specs"
they contradict each other
the 9400M isn't as powerful as Apple and nVidia would like you to think
the 9600M is discrete, but it is still isn't exactly "powerful"
if you bought a laptop with powerful graphics, you would not have lag while playing DVD's and there would be no Mac equivalent
Of course, WIndows 7 has the best driver support. You know it works well when the realteck integrated sound works straight off the bat when the 15 minutes of screwing around like with XP and Vista. Way to go, Microsoft, for turning Vista's greatest weakness into 7's greatest strength
All in all 7 has been an amazing experience for me. I've run it on several PC's from low to high end, and it's been responsive and stable even in beta. I think this may be the first thing Microsoft has gotten right in close to a decade.
A clean install is the standard method for *any* OS to get the best possible performance.
Obviously they need clean installs and vista upgrades to test for the RTM (which is of course the point of an RC), and certainly a fresh install over a beta system is always the smartest move for the end user anyway.
Hence why I said I had no right to complain since i used a beta product. Still I just needed my damn time to start over moment.
That's my best guess. I'm not in a hurry and will get it whenever it comes out.
What really interests me now though is the price. Since I mainly use Windows for gaming and don't play any games that require DirectX 10 (one game offers additional graphical features if I have it but doesn't need it), I suppose that will be my determining factor. If its over $150 for Windows 7 "Home" non-upgrade, I probably won't bother.
Since it's likely to save them money in support, I see them keeping the price of 7 close to OSX. Especially since all the new ads focus on how much cheaper it is to own a PC.
Again... that's just a guess.
So, in that you were compelled to resort to the characteristic FUD that some are handsomely rewarded for in their efforts then your reactions are quite understandable; and, the only thing is - one wonders which to fear the most between the deadly "A H1N1"; or, the upcoming Windows 7 Release!!!
One simple guess is that in both cases the Anti-Viral Researchers must certainly be very hard pressed at this time; and, it will be just too bad for you if the "bot" was unsuccessful (incoherent in) getting (attempting to get) this message to you.
Call it caught "between a rock and an hard place" - either you get hit by the "A H1N1"; or, your pocket gets the "hit". Do ya know which one is coming your way!
Try staying away from the "keyboard" and avoid spreading "viruses"!
Have a nice day!
HOWEVER, it does contradict what my neighbor's aunt's nephew's cousin in Kentucky (twice removed) discovered while blowing up stumps with dynamite and found a whole cache of 4.3 million unsold copies of OS2/Warp after the smoke had cleared. After opening up a few to check out the contents for the possibility of including it in the next batch of grits, they found that the boxes had no useful content at all. Thankfully the alien bigfoot who lived next door was willing to take them off their hands in exchange for two cows and a pig. Rumor has it that the creature has plans to sell them to customers on Venus who are still working with DOS 5.0 and really need the upgrade.
I'm not sure which rumor I believe more. I mean... two cows and a pig IS a pretty good offer for 4.3 million unsold copies of OS2/WARP, after all...
Could one of the reasons for the desperation (the administration of the special brew - like the one being desperately sought for by the health authorities around the world to combat the "A H1N1") the newly concocted one by Redmond to combat/contain the escaped IBM's Experimental 800 pound Gorilla:-
(re: "[... But so far we also have a demand from some
companies to run OS/2 on native hardware because of certain hardware access that is needed.
Roderick Klein
Mensys...]"
http://www.os2world.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,63/topic,1535.msg10801/topicseen,1/#new
What will you trust folks - the "Special Redmond Windows 7 Brew" + the Cow and "A H1N1"; or, the Alien prescribed "Mensys eComStation (OS/2) Antidote"! And, you can have whichever you like.
How about if we call this good "digging" - uh! (or, is it that the "Aliens" are soooooo...... much smarter than "Earthlings")!
Campus bar is open for busienss now on the MIcrosoft Commons Campus. However, I don't drink. Never have, never will. The rest of the Commons looks like any standard shopping mall and that holds no interest for me.
Now what would be neat to see is an Apple store located there on campus. :)
Is anybody really going to bother with Windows 7 unless or until MS rams it down their throats (i.e.. makes it impossible to get any other Windows O/S?)
Who in their right mind, running XP right now, with their browser and Office and music player, etc, all working just fine, really cares about putting a new version of Windows on their computer?
As for the UAC and feeling less secure, no, it is NOT true that pulling back on the warnings should automatically make p[eople feel less safe. If we had any deep-down confidence in Microsoft's ability to create secure software, we wouldn't feel so "unsafe." The reason people feel less safe is because over enough years, even non-programmers have figured out that Windows is a giant piece of Swiss cheese when it comes to security. The browser, O/S, networking, file sharing, mail, etc, are all so insidiously interconnected that they'll NEVER make Windows secure. I'll never forget the day I noticed that just firing up Windows Media Player automatically causes the UPnP to go out to my router and open a port! Why, "Thank You", Microsoft, for pulling s**t like this and not telling me.
I think two forces are at work:
1. A long history of security problems
2. A disasterous gaff with Vista for which they never compensated anybody.
Between those two things, MS is in a death spiral. They are powerful and have lots of cash, so they'll be around for a long time. But their days of being the "only game in town" are over. Peck by Peck, people are going to drift toward Linux and MacOS because those are viable options now.
though i must thank macs for making sure of keeping windows on track by giving them some competition. too bad its wasn't enough!
Let's face it, Mac and Linux aren't all that secure either. If their user base were to expand to that of Microsofts I'm sure you'd find them in the same position. So if you really love Mac and Linux, keep it to yourself so we don't have to worry about enough people switching that someone will start writing viruses for it. k?
I'm not a fanboy. I can recognise flaws and faults of Windows. I can also see that Linux and Mac as they are now, just aren't good enough for what people want. Yes. Mac's can do a lot of nice things. The thing is, Windows can do those things as well AND everything else. Maybe it's not as good as Mac but the broader compatibility makes it a more viable option for everybody else. Linux is the same.
- Mac - reinvest in new software, but enjoyable user experience. Premium pricing. Gamers won't switch due to lack of titles. Just don't try to change anything.
- Linux - great if you like to 'tinker' with the OS. Limited 'general purpose' programs, or Free versions that are non intuitive (think the Gimp). Less Games than Macs. Steep learning curve.
- Windows - Changed Interface (from XP), Vendor software lock-in. (I am still uncertain about win7 compatibility and will be until final release). Plenty of Games/software. Substandard interface (I know this is in the eye of the beholder).
People will generally go for the simplest route and stick with Windows because it is what comes on most standard computers. Macs will continue to do well, and as long as Microsoft is going the 'vista' direction, I can see more people slowly buying them. Linux on the desktop is a dead issue, first your average person has a hard enough time loading a simple program, don't expect them to be able to install linux without help. Linux is designed for 'geeks' (and I have been using it since kernel 1.2.3) and will never hit mainstream for average users.
* Starter:
* Home Basic:
* Home Premium:
* Professional:
* Enterprise:
* Ultimate:
***, give me a break.
Death to micro$oft
Stop worrying already.
God forbid we compare those 6 sku's to any car brand.
Go away. You bore me.
But for home users, three options for different levels of features seems like a pretty good idea. Why pay for features you won't be using? Giving people the option to choose what they want to have gives consumers more power over their purchase decisions.
You might disagree and believe that consumers do not deserve a choice when it comes to what options come with the OS they purchase. You might not. I don't know.
@Mark_Anderson:
The car analogy does work well for this. What trim level do you want? Wnat engine package? I suppose some people prefer to have choices for what performance package they want in their car, but then others may prefer the Model A option- Any color at all as long as it's black.
- by sargess25 April 30, 2009 9:46 AM PDT
- Vista Mark II is coming back under new clothing .... it'll bite your arse again. Don't say you haven't been warned ... lol
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- by Jonathan April 30, 2009 2:10 PM PDT
- Why would I care about a warning from a fanboi? No seriously. Anyone who spreads FUD is simply a fanboi and as such no reason to listen to them.
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- by Vegaman_Dan April 30, 2009 3:05 PM PDT
- Thanks for the heads up. I'll look for this 'Vista Mark II' you refer to. In the mean time, I'll be installing Win7. Let us know when you find this Vista Mark II, would you?
- Like this
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