Windows 7 RC now available free, includes weird ticking time bomb

I agree Arie; I think MS is actually being very generous allowing the Win7 RC to be used/tested essentially for free for almost a whole year!

I bet in this time there will also be updates and patches available, and I have faith that it will become a good platform. I downloaded the RC last night and will be installing it for evaluation on a new system this weekend. I will be sticking with my XP Pro for the forseeable future, but I honestly expect to be "upgrading" to Win7 within the year, and thank MS for allowing me to test the new OS legally without having to commit to buying first, after my poor (personal) experiences with Vista.

Andy.

 

Hi, well I don't think it is so much about Generosity it is a very well and clever sales strategy.
I have installed (no problems at all) RC1, I had been running the Beta before, did a clean install as recommended by MS.
Now I do like Windows 7 like most users probably will and nearly 12 month will give MS plenty of time to have the OS all sorted out for a great OS and how many people are going to be willing after all that time running a great OS and then just dump it. You will love it and pay for it because you don't like to be without it, after all that time it will be like a second skin to you.
Smart not Generous.
hawk22

 

windows rc1

i have downloaded this but keep on getting bsod after 1st reboot , maybe my board is not supported although windows 7 upgrade advisor only has a minor issue with onboard sound , the chip involved is ac97 audio codec and the board is yeah i know rubbish (jetway p4m9mp) when you require a pc running and the funds is low you tend to buy rubbish as this . i do run vista ultimate with this config without a hitch though. intel duo 1.6ghz cpu 2gb ram ddr2 . anybody got the same config and managed to get it installed ?

 

as posted I installed without problems on a Gigabyte 939 board AMD 64 3500+ and 1 GIG of Ram, not exactly fancy.
I did have to omit 2 AC97 files, but that did not affect the install.

 

OK, how about "smart and generous "?

I just installed the RC on an old self-built PC (based on an old 400Mhz FSB Compaq board with a P4 1.6Ghz, 1Gb SDRAM, and 40Gb HDD), and the installation was by far the best Windows install I have ever experienced! It didn't install the onboard AC97 audio, but once it had rebooted and configured for first use, Windows Update found the drivers and installed it. Totally painless, and I'm looking forward to testing it on my "proper" test system next week.

I can't find the Win7 equivallent of "Folder Options" yet though, and I do like my single-click mouse button in Explorer!

Andy.

 

Sorry Mate I will stick with Smart on that one.
My reason being MS do not want a repeat of Vista and this way would be the most cost efficient way to get it right. MS will harvest a Mountain of Information from the Testers and also give Manufactures ample time to get drivers and software compatibility right.
This will be the best OS that MS has produced.
Amen
hawk22

 

Thank you PeteC, but I found it not long after my post in the "Organize" drop down menu above the "folder pane ", or whatever they've decided to call it now!

I was so new (I still am really, as I didn't get around to installing the beta) when I posted, that I was totally lost in the UI!

Andy.