For anyone interested Microsoft released Windows 7 Beta to the public last Friday. You need to download the .iso file and burn it to a DVD. It is just an upgrade so you will need to have a copy of Vista running. It is the Ultimate version so it has everything included. Because it is an upgrade it does take quite a bit of time to install.
I have been using it now for a couple of days (I know it's not very long) and some of the changes are an improvement over Vista, of course that will be subject to your individual taste of what you like or don't like.
You can get the download and information here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window ... nload.aspx
Hi Nightowl - I have installed Windows7 on a second clean internal drive and now have Vista on the main drive and W7 on the secondary. Very early on in the installation I got an option to either upgrade or fresh install....naturally I chose the latter. So, you do not necessarily need to upgrade over Vista, it will install just like any other OS. It took just 17 minutes to install, much faster than any previous Windows OS....the upgrade install is obviously a lot slower.
First impressions....well it is a cut down version of Vista, isn't it....'Vista Light' with a few cosmetic changes. It [i:1ov42lfd]is[/i:1ov42lfd] very fast on my machine which was built specifically to handle Vista (high end specs). IE8 in W7 is extremely quick, much faster than FF and even faster than Chrome (IMO).
For the information of others: On the first boot after installation W7 Security Center will report the lack of any anti virus protection and link to recommendations which all cost $$$$$. Upon scouring the net for suggestions (for freeware, of course) I found reports that all the big three free AV programs will run okay on W7. AVG Free and AntiVir Free will, apparently, run trouble free....Avast is reported to work fine but for some reason the W7 security center does not recognise the definition updates and continually reports them as out-of-date even though they are not. One dedicated Avast user reported this can be overcome by running the initial execute/setup file and some of the processes in Vista compatibility mode. I have downloaded and installed AntiVir Free...so far - so good!
cheers mate......JIM
Hi Jim:
I was aware that you could clean install, but the test machine I have doesn't have Vista capabilities, so I did an upgrade on a laptop that I have recovery discs for. I agree it doesn't seem to be that much different from Vista, but it is some better. I'm still playing with it, and learning.
As for virus programs and also firewalls (if you don't want the default firewall) Vipre Anti-Virus from Sunbelt and Comodo Firewall both work very well from the start. I had both of them loaded on the machine I upgraded and they were recognized right away.
I'm sure there will be many more changes to come, hopefully it will become even better.
Hey Nightowl - Thanks for the heads up on Vipre AV and Comodo Firewall mate....all useful information.
I agree entirely with you mate.....Windows7 is probably what Vista should have been in the first place. I hope M$ offer an upgrade discount to existing Vista users but I won't be holding my breath!!
cheers.......JIM
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