If you're feeling adventuresome, you can get a jump on the rest of the world by being one of the first to try out Windows 7, the next version of Windows. I've tested out the beta version for the last few months and, so far, my experience has been quite positive.
Microsoft still hasn't announced the date of the final commercial version of the upcoming operating system, though it's widely expected to be out by the end of this year. But Microsoft is allowing anyone to download and install a free copy of the operating system so it can be tested on a wide range of machines. Windows 7 RC, as it's called, was made available for public testing May 4threlease candidate and will be available for free "at least through July" to those willing to go through a few hurdles.
Getting set up
Microsoft is recommending that you install Windows 7 on a dedicated test PC, admonishing users not to test it on your primary home or business PC. I have a confession. I ignored that advice and tested the first beta and the release candidate on the machine I mainly use for work. Having said that, I'm a very experienced PC user, I back up my data daily, and I have other machines I can rely on if there is a problem. Installing any new operating system--especially one that's not officially released or supported--can be risky, so if you do install Windows 7, be sure you have a complete backup of your system; back up your data regularly and have a plan of action should something fail.
First you have to download a 2.36-gigabyte file, which could take a considerable amount of time depending on your Internet speed and how busy the download servers are at the time. What you download is an ISO file that must be burned to a DVD before you can install it on a machine, so be sure your PC has a DVD burner and you have a blank DVD handy. Microsoft says your machine will need a 1 GHz or faster CPU, at least 1 GB of RAM (I recommended at least 2 GB), and at least 16 GB of available disk space (more is better). The 64-bit version has higher requirements.
You can install Windows 7 over Vista but not earlier versions of Windows. For best performance, I recommend a "clean install," which requires that you re-install all your software when you're done. In theory this can be done without destroying the data on your disk, but I would never dream of installing an operating system without first backing up all of my data.
The installation process went very smoothly for me and, when it was done, most of my hardware worked properly thanks to Windows 7's built-in drivers. Most simply installed automatically. I had to manually install my printer drivers, but even they were included with the operating system. It discovered my Brother laser printer on my network and installed it without my having to download any new drivers. It also recognized my keyboard and dual monitors. The built-in Windows driver for the IDT sound adapter on my Intel motherboard installed basic features but didn't give me as much control over settings as Intel's drivers. However, I was able to download and install them from Intel's Web site.
So far, all of the programs I've tested work. There were a few that gave me a bit of trouble at first but right-clicking on a program's icon brings up the Windows 7 "troubleshoot compatibility" tool that usually takes care of things. The one big problem I had was installing the plug-in to watch videos on ABC.com. Before it would let me download the software, it kept telling me that I had to upgrade my operating system to XP or Vista. It saw that I wasn't using an approved operating system and refused to let me try. But I solved that problem by downloading it to another (Vista) PC and copying the file over to my Windows 7 machine where it installed just fine.
Hovering over IE shows all tabs
(Credit: Microsoft)First impressions
My favorite feature in Windows 7 is the taskbar, which not only displays running programs but lets you "pin" frequently used programs so you can run or switch to them with a single click. When you hover your mouse over an icon of a program that's running, you see thumbnails of all the open windows for that program. If you move the mouse into the thumbnail, it grows much larger. Click on that larger window and you're in the program. This feature makes it a lot easier to navigate between documents or Web sites. With Firefox, you only see one tab per window, but Internet Explorer shows all the tabs, which is quite nice. In fact, that feature caused me to start using Internet Explorer 8 (which comes with Windows 7) and I'm starting to like it a lot more. I read the reviews that say Firefox 3 is faster than Explorer 8, but with my cable modem connection I don't see any noticeable difference, and Internet Explorer seems to be a less prone to crashes.
I'm also liking the Libraries feature that you can access from the navigation pane in any folder. Libraries are virtual folders that, by default, provide access to documents, photos, and other media files without having to navigate through a hierarchy of folders. You can use this to add links to additional folders on your machine, a network server, or another machine on the network. For instructions on how to use libraries, see this post on Windows Live.
Although an improvement over previous versions, it still retains some of Windows' annoying attributes. For one thing, it will slow down over time. My brand new RC installation is quite fast but by the time I used the beta for a few months, it was starting to get a bit sluggish (that's called "windows rot"). That's been the case with every version of Windows so far, and Windows 7 doesn't seem to be an exception. Still, it's noticeably faster than Vista which is at least a step in the right direction. Also, as with earlier versions, it sometimes doesn't properly close programs that have crashed. There have been times when I've had to turn off the PC to recover from a program's crash.
For a lot more details on Windows see Ed Bott's excellent write-up on ZDNet.
Back in the old days when TVs and radios had tubes, it took a couple of minutes for a set to warm up before you could watch or listen. But even then, you could turn it off instantly. That's not true with Windows PCs. Not only does it sometimes take seemingly forever for them to boot, but it can take several minutes for one to shut down. Even worse, if a program stops responding, you may or may not be able to shut it down. And even if it does terminate, it may take awhile.
And by the way, I'm not just talking about Windows XP and Vista. I'm having the same problem with Windows 7, though, to be fair, the new operating system is still in beta so it's possible that Microsoft could amaze and delight me by fixing this in the final version.
I can understand why it takes at least some time for a PC to boot from a power-off situation because the operating system and some software and drivers have to be copied from storage into memory. But I can't understand why it takes more than a few seconds for the computer or one of its applications to shut down. I realize that sometimes there is a bit of housekeeping to do in the form of closing files but--give me a break--should that really have to take up to five minutes? And there have been countless times in my experience when it simply never shuts down, forcing me to hold the power button for several seconds. I've even had laptops that were so stubborn that I had to remove the battery to turn them off.
I'm particularly annoyed at how Windows often fails to terminate programs that have crashed. In theory, pressing Ctrl Alt and Delete to bring up the Task Manager followed by clicking End Task should simply stop the program and return you to the operating system. But that doesn't always work. Sometimes the program just hangs there forever, sometimes it quits after a random period of time and sometimes the entire computer just crashes. Imagine if you had a lamp in your house that was malfunctioning and the only way to turn it off was to turn off all the power to your house from the main breaker.
I haven't raised this particular issue with people at Microsoft, but a couple of years ago- when I was researching a story for The New York Times on technology energy hogs, the standard response from folks in Redmond was to blame third party applications and drivers for the fact that Windows machines often fail to properly go to or wake up from from sleep mode. Third party applications may very well be to blame, but it's no excuse. One of Windows strongest selling points is its ability to work with software and hardware from thousands of sources so it seems to me that a company with the resources and experience of Microsoft should have by now figured out how to handle errant programs and drivers.
I do like many of the improvements in Windows 7 and appreciate that it boots a little faster and--at least on my machine--seems better at going to sleep and waking up. Now all I want is the ability to turn off the darn machine and terminate a misbehaving program without having to dedicate my entire afternoon to the task.
Mousing over Internet Explorer icon shows open tabs.
(Credit: Larry Magid)I don't know why it took so long, but Microsoft has finally fixed Vista. Only it isn't calling it Vista. Instead the company is working on what it's calling a new version of Windows, Windows 7. The operating system isn't commercially available, but is likely to be out by the end of the year.
I don't know how much Microsoft plans to charge for the upgrade once it's officially available, but the company should give it away free to anyone who bought Vista or a PC with Vista preinstalled. Even though there are some new features, Windows 7 strikes me mostly as a bug fix. It speeds up Windows and fixes one of its most annoying "features" and makes one particularly useful change to the user interface. It seems to me that anyone who paid for Vista is entitled to this upgrade.
Microsoft has launched a free, public, beta test of the software, but to participate you must download it by Feb. 10. It's not for everyone. Microsoft strongly recommends that "only experienced computer users sign up" for the beta program. Displayed on the screen is the caveat, "For testing purposes only." The beta will expire in August, but should be replaced by a newer beta or the real product. If you're game, you can download the beta test of Windows 7 at Microsoft's Web site
I installed it on two machines, a brand new desktop and an older notebook PC. The notebook installation was an upgrade of an old copy of Vista that I've had for a couple of years. As is often the case with Windows, the OS on that machine got pretty slow after two years of use. But Windows 7 sped it up. Until now, every new version of Windows was slower than the one it replaced.
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Microsoft is letting the public preview Windows 7, the successor to its Vista operating system. Anyone can download and try out the new software between now and February 10. Microsoft strongly recommends "that only experienced computer users sign up" for the beta program.
CBS News' Larry Magid talks about Windows 7 with CNET News' Ina Fried, who has tried it on several computers.
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