News - Microsoft Windows 7 Release Candidate won't expire until June 1st 2010

[TAKTAK]

Is there anywhere I can still get a copy of Win7? I got a beta code when they were flying around but with the server issues & the fact I was busy I never got round to downloading it!
I know MS have stopped allowing D/Ls, I could torrent but would prefer some legitimate means to get it!

Wait 3 days and get the official RC release from MS

You never know what the torrented versions have been riddled with TBH...

[badass]

I'm running the Official RC from Microsoft (downloaded from Microsoft) and I notice it still takes an age doing nothing several times during the install. It is much slower than Vista to install because of this, however once it's installed it's much snappier.
At least it's not got services crashing once per second like the beta. I don;t have to worry about expiry as I have a technet plus subscription.

[this_is_gav]

//edit: never saw the 2nd page.

[zephod]

Will be running it on a partition to test games/hardware etc. If I buy it (massively huge if) it won't be at least until it expires. However, I do think it is a very good move from m$. Bearing in mind their main competition remains XP I think this will cause a fair number of vista refusers to try, and ulimately they will end up paying to upgrade when the time comes as it is just easier. After all, whats £100 to keep a years worth of random files hidden in obscure folders that you may or may not one day need. I always forget to back something up at a format - and spend a week bashing my head against a table.

[Bob Crabtree]

After all, whats £100 to keep a years worth of random files hidden in obscure folders that you may or may not one day need. I always forget to back something up at a format - and spend a week bashing my head against a table.

ROFL!

Seriously, though, just bite the bullet and spend £25 getting Acronis's True Image backup program - the ultimate Get-out-of-Jail card - and the biggest capacity USB external HDD you can afford.

Bearing in mind their main competition remains XP I think this will cause a fair number of vista refusers to try, and ulimately they will end up paying to upgrade when the time comes as it is just easier.

I reckon you've hit the nail fair and square on the head.

I also reckon, though, that you are likely to be impressed with Win 7.

Okay, like Vista, there's a whole lot of stuff that's not quite where you expect to find it - though there are new things to discover, too, some rather nice - but on the two PCs I've set up (a Samsung NC10 netbook, with 2GB RAM; and a Q6600 Dell desktop, also with 2GB), it's way faster and smoother than Vista and, much to my surprise, is also genuinely quicker than XP (and a whole lot prettier, too, of course). And neither is running the version of Win 7 that came available the other day - instead they are on Win 7 Build 7057.

However, if the prices for Win 7 that are being speculated about on the net are anything close to correct, I reckon that Microsoft is still going to find considerable resistance from upgraders - both consumers and business.

And that seems stupid, cos Microsoft would appear to be ignoring the well-proven market rule that only with affordable pricing to get truly massive sales volumes.

Or, actually, is the pricing of Win 7 intended to encourage people to buy PCs rather than OS upgrades?

Whatever the case, what I say, is, Bring on Download Tuesday!

Bob C

[[GSV]Trig]

I'm on w7 on my laptop and tbh when its released I'll probably install it on my main machine too in place of the existing XP32 install, I'll also be going to 64 bit to take use of the 8gb ram I have in my machine that half unused atm.

[Biscuit]

I haven't bothered with the trial of W7... more just time and patience than anything that has stopped me but i know il be buying it based on the recommendations of people who have tried it out.
Them keeping the allowence for free users going for such a long time does seem wierd but only because its such a big comapny and we are not used to them being so nice to us general joe bloggs types. Regardless of the irregularity of it i think it does express a certain confidence in the product which is supported by the reviews and reports. This can only work out well for them in the long run which im guessing is the way they are thinking of it.

[macbeth1959]

It seems to me that microsoft wants to make friends with it's user base once again - we'll find out how good their intentions are when they release their price list!!!! The constant need to upgrade to a 'better' operating system at £100+ is a chore!!!!

[this_is_gav]

It seems to me that microsoft wants to make friends with it's user base once again - we'll find out how good their intentions are when they release their price list!!!! The constant need to upgrade to a 'better' operating system at £100+ is a chore!!!!

So don't do it. In 99% of cases W7 won't give you anything that Vista (and to less of an extent XP) couldn't. It's like upgrading from an Q6600 to a Q9400... it's pretty much the same, just slightly tweaked and slightly more efficient.

[Hicks12]

But its still better than Mac releasing OS Upgrades for £100 each time, £100 for a brand new OS(yes its still has significant changes albeit less than xp->vista) so better value for us right?

[Biscuit]

i think its just different ways of labelling to be honest. I htink they label it that so that people dont think whole new product deliberately because they liek to think what they haveis so good it doesnt need to change. I think its also because you dont have to wipe your system to 'upgrade' like you do with other OS's but essentially all that does it keep your documents intact im pretty sure it doesnt carry all the software across.
Tiger to Leopard was about the same as vista to 7 but snow leopard is going to have considerable improvements more like the xp - vista change..

[Whiternoise]

I'll likely run the RC until it's expiry time. I think this is a good idea by Microsoft. Most of their OS purchases will always be with new PCs, but I'd think that giving RC users such a long grace period will give them cause to become 'attached' to the OS, and thus encourage upgrade/retail/oem purchases from a group who'd probably not otherwise bother.

That, i think, is a very good point. The vast majority of people who build their own computers- and i say this with great generalisation - probably just use their old licenses. Businesses and people building for purposes other than surfing, the odd frag and a bit of work at home will probably buy a license. I reckon that a good 60-70%+ of all their license sales are from businesses doing bulk upgrades or from retailers selling pre-built computers. Then i think it's probably 50:50 people who buy a new copy of the OS when they upgrade or people simply upgrading.

I've got the beta installed, so if i can do an upgrade install then i will - if not i don't really want the hassle of a reinstall again - i might burn a disc so i can install when the beta runs out though!

I would definitely buy a copy if i needed to build a new PC after it's released.

But its still better than Mac releasing OS Upgrades for £100 each time, £100 for a brand new OS(yes its still has significant changes albeit less than xp->vista) so better value for us right?

With frequent OS "updates" a la Mac, think of it this way (and i'll add it's not £100, it's £83):

How is it any different from Intel, Adobe, Nvidia. Intel crank out new processors nigh on every 6 months, each with little performance bumps. None of them are that "significant" to anyone but power users, and even then the jump isn't usually worth breaking a sweat over. Yet, there are people - most of whom would share your view that an OS upgrade a year is a waste of money - who buy the latest chip as it comes out so they can get an extra 5fps. Imagine paying £600 for the new edition of Master Suite CS[X] whenever it came out (CS3 to CS4 was pretty speedy). My point is that this isn't just an "Apple Tax", lots of companies do it and people still buy the new editions. What Apple are hitting on is that people don't want to wait years for a new operating system which to my mind is fair enough.

Tiger to Leopard was a decent jump, as was Puma(?) to Tiger (changes including spaces, expose, the intel switch). I would be tempted to say that they were pretty much new operating systems in most cases - certainly no worse than Win98 to Win2000.

[Hicks12]

Good point really. But other companies advertise it as new stuff where as apple market it as an "upgrade"(my friend kept mentioning it as a pro and just thought id post it xD).

[TooNice]

Think I'll be installing this on the PC I am building today. The alternative would've been XP. Since I won't be using the PC too heavily in the next few months (too busy), it's a good chance to play with W7 a little bit.

I've given Vista more than it's fair chance. I've been using it for over a year, almost exclusively, and unlike previous MS OS shift that I have done, minus ME which I'll pretend didn't exist, I can't get into it. Performance aside (I acknowledge that a laptop HD is not ideal, but the rest of the system is well up to spec), it's the UI that I absolutely can't stand. There are some UI aspect on XP I regularly use that's dropped on Vista with no alternative given (yeah I've looked and Googled).

I won't get my hopes up with V7 just yet given that a lot of people are saying it's just Vista but snappier, but I guess that would still improvement over my experience with Vista right now.

[c0ld]

I think its a pretty good move from a company like microsoft, its like comodo internet security, they give away a free version which is absolutely amazing in the hope that the ppl using it will upgrade to the even better one and or tell their friends and their boss ect how good it is who in turn will buy a copy. ill be using the RC till the end, but ill be damn sure to be getting a full copy when its released because it so damn good.

[Bob Crabtree]

its like comodo internet security, they give away a free version which is absolutely amazing in the hope that the ppl using it will upgrade to the even better one and or tell their friends and their boss ect how good it is who in turn will buy a copy.

Am I being overly cynical when I see a member's first post praising a product and wonder if there is any ulterior motive?

Bob (the cynic)