Finally there is a release candidate for Windows 7. I had been waiting for it for last few months.
My stint with it's predecessor, Vista though spread over just 7 months, had not gone smooth. I had to face a lot of issues as others did. The issue that irritated me the most is the access related confirmation message that often popped up when I had to start any software installation or run some applications like Daemon Tools etc. Vista is slow in starting up, often shows up some unwanted permission related messages when one tries to write/modify anything inside the directories like Progam Files/Windows. The Dreamscene component that runs a video as a desktop background often works for few minutes before generating errors. All these facts were forcing me to think for an alternative like a Windows XP installation in my laptop, but as it is a XPS M1530, Dell does not provide the drivers for XP. There are some unofficial articles available on internet regarding XP installation in XPS M1530, but I din't want to take any chance. By that time, there was already beta version of Windows 7, Microsoft's rework on Vista available. So, I started reading articles and user reviews on it. As stated by Microsoft, Windows 7 will issue some problems of Vista and it's totally compatible with Vista based systems. I also came to know that there would be a release candidate available in next few days, so I opted to wait for RC than trying out one of the beta versions available over torrent which may be malicious program infected! So, this month Microsoft has released RC for their latest offering. I downloaded a copy of it from Microsoft TechNet, download was pretty faster, took around 25 mins of time for 2.35GB iso file. They provided me with a product key which will keep the RC active till May 31, 2010. But starting from March 1, 2010 there will be bi-hourly shutdowns and the system will start notifying two weeks before this process begins.
Windows 7 can't be termed as a next generation OS as it's built on Vista and issues some core problems of Vista. It has to work on lesser amount of RAM, boost up the startup time etc. So, with these claimed features and with some of my own expectations, I have started experimenting with Windows 7. To save time, I have upgraded Vista installation to Windows 7. It showed me a confirmation message as there were 3 installed applications which are incompatible with Windows 7. I choose to continue. It was really a hassle free procedure as the installation itself took care of all the file/registry transfer to temporary places and then reinstating them to their actual locations etc. The process was little bit time consuming as I had a huge windows user folder with around 80GB of data. Finally, the installation was over. So far so good, there was not a single hiccup. The startup time is less compared to earlier Vista installation. All the files & folders of my Vista user folder are still in the same locations. All the applications are working properly except antivirus program, Daemon Tools, Dell Support Center. I had to go for a beta version of Mcafee Total Protection. But there were no alternatives for the other two softwares. The user interface remains almost same except the redesigned taskbar. Dreamscene is totally removed. Windows 7 has a new version of Windows Media Player, it's version 12. It has got a claimed native support for playing blue-ray discs. I don't have any blue-way drive, so can't test this feature. The application loading time is also significantly faster, I have witnessed it with Adobe applications mostly.
But the problem of displaying unwanted confirmation messages while installing a software or writing/modifying particular folders remains still the same and annoying. As my account already has the administrator level access, then why is this confirmation required? I wish that Mircosoft will address this problem in the final release. Overall, it's a good experience, just waiting for the independant software vendors to upgrade their offerings to be compitable with Windows 7.
My stint with it's predecessor, Vista though spread over just 7 months, had not gone smooth. I had to face a lot of issues as others did. The issue that irritated me the most is the access related confirmation message that often popped up when I had to start any software installation or run some applications like Daemon Tools etc. Vista is slow in starting up, often shows up some unwanted permission related messages when one tries to write/modify anything inside the directories like Progam Files/Windows. The Dreamscene component that runs a video as a desktop background often works for few minutes before generating errors. All these facts were forcing me to think for an alternative like a Windows XP installation in my laptop, but as it is a XPS M1530, Dell does not provide the drivers for XP. There are some unofficial articles available on internet regarding XP installation in XPS M1530, but I din't want to take any chance. By that time, there was already beta version of Windows 7, Microsoft's rework on Vista available. So, I started reading articles and user reviews on it. As stated by Microsoft, Windows 7 will issue some problems of Vista and it's totally compatible with Vista based systems. I also came to know that there would be a release candidate available in next few days, so I opted to wait for RC than trying out one of the beta versions available over torrent which may be malicious program infected! So, this month Microsoft has released RC for their latest offering. I downloaded a copy of it from Microsoft TechNet, download was pretty faster, took around 25 mins of time for 2.35GB iso file. They provided me with a product key which will keep the RC active till May 31, 2010. But starting from March 1, 2010 there will be bi-hourly shutdowns and the system will start notifying two weeks before this process begins.
Windows 7 can't be termed as a next generation OS as it's built on Vista and issues some core problems of Vista. It has to work on lesser amount of RAM, boost up the startup time etc. So, with these claimed features and with some of my own expectations, I have started experimenting with Windows 7. To save time, I have upgraded Vista installation to Windows 7. It showed me a confirmation message as there were 3 installed applications which are incompatible with Windows 7. I choose to continue. It was really a hassle free procedure as the installation itself took care of all the file/registry transfer to temporary places and then reinstating them to their actual locations etc. The process was little bit time consuming as I had a huge windows user folder with around 80GB of data. Finally, the installation was over. So far so good, there was not a single hiccup. The startup time is less compared to earlier Vista installation. All the files & folders of my Vista user folder are still in the same locations. All the applications are working properly except antivirus program, Daemon Tools, Dell Support Center. I had to go for a beta version of Mcafee Total Protection. But there were no alternatives for the other two softwares. The user interface remains almost same except the redesigned taskbar. Dreamscene is totally removed. Windows 7 has a new version of Windows Media Player, it's version 12. It has got a claimed native support for playing blue-ray discs. I don't have any blue-way drive, so can't test this feature. The application loading time is also significantly faster, I have witnessed it with Adobe applications mostly.
But the problem of displaying unwanted confirmation messages while installing a software or writing/modifying particular folders remains still the same and annoying. As my account already has the administrator level access, then why is this confirmation required? I wish that Mircosoft will address this problem in the final release. Overall, it's a good experience, just waiting for the independant software vendors to upgrade their offerings to be compitable with Windows 7.
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