I Am Downloading Windows 7 RC

I learned that Windows 7 RC has an expiration date of June 2010. That’s great because it means I have adequate time to try it out to see if I like it or not.

I have been asked in the PCMech LIVE show several times, "Did you try Windows 7 yet?" My answer was no because I didn’t want to install an OS that had a close expiration date on it. This doesn’t exactly give me street cred so to speak in tech circles because I’m still using XP Pro edition and never bought Vista (nor do I plan to).

Side note: This is why you don’t see Vista articles on PCMech. Dave runs Macs. He only ran Vista for a very brief period of time before getting so sick of it that he switched whole hog to the Apple platform. I personally stuck with XP.

I want to make clear that Vista is not a "bad" OS, especially since the release of SP1 months ago. Neither of us choose to run it, that’s all.

Compared to others, I won’t be running it in a virtual session. I’m actually (gasp) going to dare and run it as my primary OS. To date I know several people that are doing this now and say it runs absolutely wonderful and that this is the one they were waiting for. Will it be for me? Time will tell.

In addition, Microsoft should be offering a way to "convert" your RC into a retail-licensed OS (with purchase of license of course), so when that time comes I shouldn’t have to install it all over again. This is assuming I even like it to begin with.

If all goes well, you should finally start seeing some Win 7 articles here on PCMech – in-depth ones that is. I was waiting for the time when a nice long expiration date would happen and I got my wish.

And yes, I did download Win 7 on bittorrent. It is well known that Microsoft purposely wants people to download this and try it out, else they wouldn’t have given out the super-long expiration on the OS in the first place.

Win 7 stuff coming soon. Watch for it.

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http://www.darknet-fusion.co.cc Vertimyst
Why download via torrent when you can just wait for the official release this coming Tuesday? I guess, though, MS likely will run into server problems again, so bittorrent will probably be the way to go.

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
Already downloaded and running it now as I type this. Not a hiccup to speak of. Running *really* good actually.

Me
Hey there .. where i can try this phenomenon OS after Vista disaster (i dont think Vista a disaster .. I like and use it on my laptop and desktop ) … so , where to get again plz ? (prefer torrent if its possible)

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
See Vertimyst’s comment above.
http://www.darknet-fusion.co.cc Vertimyst
Yea, just wait until this coming Tuesday (May 5th), and go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/ to download it.
If you’re absolutely not patient enough, google for a torrent, or the bay of pirates. I’m sure you’ll find something there. But watch out for fake stuff.

Tyler
I made a whole hog exodus to Ubuntu after my nightmarish experience with Vista. After having tried Win7 I still don’t see anything Microsoft has to offer that would compel me switch back to Windows.
http://bluehillsbeckon.blogspot.com Preetam
Waiting for some RC review. Your blog as a whole is amazingly detailed. Do the review on Win7 RC if possible.

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
Coming soon, watch for it.

jim
ive been running this on my test laptop for a couple months, nice os, now i think i will load it on my netbook and see how it runs on that

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
From what I understand (although haven’t tested personally), Win 7 shouldn’t have any issue running on a netbook. However with the Ultimate version I doubt you’d be able to take advantage of the graphic-intensive features on a low-powered unit like that.

James
Is it just me, or does it seem like the fix is in for Windows 7? Nothing but glowing reviews so far. Does anyone remember if Vista was panned in beta? Frankly, I don’t believe the hype.
What I haven’t been able to gather is whether people feel 7 is a marked improvement over XP, or is it only better than Vista (which isn’t saying much at all). Maybe after 7 SP1 is released, MS will have earned enough credibility back to make me want to upgrade.

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
At present I can’t honestly say if 7 is the kicker that will switch people off of XP for good. My personal test will be if it runs the same apps I was able to in XP; that’s an absolute requirement.
From a hardware compatibility point of view (which is what kept me from Vista in the first place), Win 7 has so far exhibited absolutely no issues whatsoever. Then again this is just my opinion alone as I’m sure there will be stuff 7 won’t “like”. But so far so good.
The “lean” nature of 7 runs just fine on my Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB RAM / 512MB video setup.

Montreal
I have a question?
If I install the RC on my computer and choose to at the end of the trial that I don’t like it and want to switch back to XP…will it revert back to my XP OS automatically or will I have to reinstall my old operating system?

http://www.darknet-fusion.co.cc Vertimyst
Yes, you’ll have to reinstall, but if you partition your hard drive before installing 7 (resize your existing XP partition, and install 7 in the new free space), you can dual-boot the two, so you can use both, and if you decide you don’t like 7 you just need to delete its partition (and resize XP’s to regain the free space).
There are plenty of guides to partitioning and dual-booting, some written especially for Windows 7, maybe even here on PCMech. Just do a search for them.
Here’s an excellent guide on Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/5126781/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-with-xp-or-vista
It’s pretty easy, just be careful because if done incorrectly, you could mess up your system. It’s not too easy to mess up, though, so don’t worry.