A week after bringing out the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, Microsoft has released it to the general public as well.
This not being the final tested version, there are some risks involved in using it. According to Microsoft, people who wish to use this version should have some specific skills.
Users should know how to:
- Troubleshoot problems
- Burn an ISO image to create a DVD
- Install Windows
- Back up and restore their PC
- Set up a network
- Create and use a system recovery disk.
Since Windows 7 RC is a work in progress, users may encounter technical difficulties. Hence, the users should not install the RC on their primary production machine.
Some serious issues with Windows 7 RC:
There are some serious issues you might face while using Windows 7 RC. Some of these were also occurred with Windows Vista when it was first introduced, like:
- Some software applications, including antivirus programs, might not install or work correctly
- Printers and video cards, may not work
- Access to corporate or home networks may go down
- Users’ files may get corrupt
Click here to get the download for Windows 7 RC
Plus, by March 1, 2010, the program will begin shutting itself down every two hours. So those who still have the Windows 7 RC running on their computers will probably want to uninstall it. According to Microsoft, people will have to rebuild their test PCs to replace the operating system with a non-expired version of Windows and reinstall the programs and data, according to Microsoft. Oh boy!!!
Right now, with the complexities of installing the program, I don’t think a non-techie user would quite be interested in “testing” the product. Not me at least!
(Source: Windows 7rc)
[UPDATE]
On October 22, Microsoft will officially launch Windows 7.
The upgrades are most likely to be free for people who buy a new Windows Vista PC shortly before Windows 7 arrives. However, we don’t yet know when this upgrade program begins or how much Windows 7 will cost. Keep reading…
19 Comments
This is really bad. Are the developers sleeping??? They should be thinking from a laymans perspective.
Many a times companies release products in competition with the competitor without testing the software at their end. Consequences are always beared by the users who has to put in a huge amount of money and time.
I personally feel that Windows7 or any other product release should be properly tested and then released.
Thanks for this great info.
@Pranita,
I agree. If a layman can’t use with then what’s the point in releasing it to the “general public”… Although initially I was eager to try it myself, but with all those technicalities involved, I personally choose not to try it now.
Tried to install RC7. Downloaded iso, made disk & began installation on newly formatted HD. The installation seemed to go fine. Last restart and all I saw was a black screen with Windows build info in the lower right corner and nothing else. I was never asked to enter a key and received no error messages. What went wrong? I have been able to install Vista & XP and have no trouble.
Thanks for any useful tips.
CHart
@Chuck,
Oh man, that’s bad… i’ve heard many ppl come back with similar complains. Wonder what the problem is.
Turn user account control off. It helped when I had a black screen after installing SP2 version 6002 on Vista Business. If it is, these betas seem to corrupt user accounts during install. Or it might be OS specific.
Not everyone is as dumb as you.
After the numerous warnings that MS gives, and the fact that they mention this is not a production release, you still have the audacity to give tehm flak for releasing a version for those who wish and are smart enough to test it?
Windows 7 is a breeze to install and works great!
@Swati,
Why are you writing articles for an online tech site if you don’t know how to install an OS as simple as Windows 7 is to install.
Ken
@Ken
Your question reminds me of my school days: I always used to complain to my teachers saying… “why do you have to tell such elementary things, which are so obvious, in your lectures?”
Then one fine day, my mom, who trains teachers on how to teach students in schools, told me that the biggest challenge of a teacher is not only to teach just the intelligent lot, but also the whole class, which will always have all kinds of students, some of those who will not be very intelligent.
I believe DW is a place where there is whole mix of readers (4500+ active readers)… some of them are already tech geeks while some readers are novice and are picking up to be the tech geeks of the future.
I personally know a reader, my cousin, who is 12 years old, and really likes the articles here because they expose him to the tech world in a very easy, understandable manner.
🙂
@All DW editors:
Keep up the good work!
As a MSFT faithful, if I were to describe the comments on this post in not more than 2 words … I’d say – “Emotional Atyachaar” (translating to emotional attrocities”).
My 2 cents to follow…
@ Swati,
Thanks for the trivia. I must’ve missed the 2010 self shutdown feature. I’m quite tempted to ‘explore’ the code 😉
BTW, RCs are not to be used as permanent OS. The 2010 self shutdown is a feature to remind you to buy your authentic “GA/RTM” copy of Windows.
@ Pranita,
If ignorance is bliss, what should the intellectuals do? The purpose of sharing RCs with user communities or general public is a means of performing large scale user testing. The developers are not really sleeping but eagerly awaiting your feedback. When you encounter an issue, that you can not resolve and think of as a bug, file it! If the issue you log is indeed a bug you may win yourself a freebie 🙂
@ Chuck
There could be several reasons for this. It could be sitting on a driver loading or anything. Too little info to dig deeper. You could start troubleshooting by isolating H/w dependencies – for example if you’re using KVMs / dual monitors etc… get them out. Try & debug it. If you’ve managed to resolve it, share the tip. If not notify MSFT.
If this is a test machine & time is not a concern & you’d like to do an RCA, I’ll be happy to help. I’m not very regular on this site (due to time constraints) though.
@ Ken
There are all kinds of people. Some dumb, some smart and then a whole lot of wannabes. Which one are you?
All developers make every effort to make installs smooth and easy. Speaking for MSFT – Do you know “Setup” is one of their largest “Tech Support” teams? Setup & installations can get complex due to a variety of factors… environments. The BSODs, the blank screens/no boot like Chuck’s case…. just so many. Troubleshooting/debugging them aint no joke either.
So humble down my friend. I think the author of the post is smart enough to know she aint smart enough to deal with problems that may arise from a RC version or maybe waste her time/resources on dealing with issues. Let’s appreciate the effort/trivia shared and humble down for all levels of audiences.
@ Deepesh,
Well said my friend. My 8 year old nephew discovered a bug with wifi connectivity recently… Good news, MSFT acknowledged and fixed it already.
Hi friends…
after installing w 7 rc,i am not bale to acces my net.The network drivers also installed automatically.Can any one give the solution for this
@Vijender
go to Control panel>>network and internet>> network and sharing center.
and check ur setup,my net is working fine on W7.
RE: my failed installation of Windows 7RC. Problem solved, ran the same installation on an OLD computer that did not meet the minimum requirements, (1gig, 256m ram no sound etc.) but went on OK. I then removed the hard drive and put it in the computer that didn’t install the first time and bingo!, win 7rc worked perfect after updating drivers. Bottom line, never give up…
Have downloaded ISO file. How to go about installing it? Nothing happens.
W7 is not for primary install as you all know. I installed it using VM desktop running in XP Pro with no issues. Well maybe a few as I taxed the crap out of it. I make it break so I can fix it but thats just me.