[tck90k]

did anyone download the Beta of Windows 7 OS . I been playing with it for a few hours and it seems 100times better than Vista . I just liek you can preview the icons on the bottom .

[pltaylor]

I'm thinking about it. How about a screen shot?

[pltaylor]

Here's the link in case anyone feels frogy. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

[AStranger]

I read an article somewhere that said it was beating XP and vista in tests.

I'm not so surprised at beating vista, but it's definitely cool if it's beating XP in speed.

A friend of mine at work had a laptop with it on it and it looks pretty nice. If I had an extra system to play around with then I would probably take a chance with it.

[howie]

I downloaded it and seems faster. It was a clean Windows 7 install, hit the bug and would not allow me to reboot back into Windows. Did another clean install and avoided the issue that uncovered that bug, but found two others. Formatting again to put XP pro back. All were consistently reproducible.

[anon(1522652)]

Running on my MacBook Pro via Bootcamp. For a Beta, it works well. It is a little more rough than Vista Beta 1 and 2 were but I am happy with it.

Two issues I have had are the disappearing windows which re-appear a second later and Outlook 2007 profiles wizard instantiating itself numerous times without allowing the first instance to complete nor creating the profile. For the latter, I had to create the profile manually in order for Outlook to work properly.

Memory utilisation on 7 seems to be a lot less than Vista. The dock/task bar takes a little getting used for those not used to OSX/Linux/Solaris/etc but I am sure most people will get used. to it. UAC has been toned down by default though you can bring it up to Vista levels if you feel the need for that level of security (read annoyance).

The new version of MSN is out for everyone and looks a lot nicer. They have given it the Vista/7 look and feel but have also added changeable skins. Speaking of which, one thing I do like is the new way that themes have been implemented. If you create a theme, you can deliver a set of background images that Windows will automatically switch between. Users can change colours of the task bar easily (finally) to one of a dozen or so colours. Kudos to the team that did personalisation as it seems to be greatly improved and appears to have an emphasis on ease of use.

At the moment, three anti-virus solutions are available: Norton, Kaspersky, and AVG. All are offering preview versions for 90 days (or longer depending on the length of their Beta programme). Using Kaspersky which seems less instrusive than Norton usually is.

Desktop Manager 4.6 works properly thought tried to do a software upgrade of my Bold to the latest and it took a few goes. It would remain on "Uploading RAM image" at 100% and keep the Bold's screen off. After a reboot and switching to a different USB port, all went well.

[8310Fan]

Anything's better than Vista, I have hated it from day 1 when 'upgraded' from XP Pro

[Acorn]

I installed Windows 7 on a laptop that was originally vista. its so much better its rediculous. My primary machine is osx and windows 7 has some similaritys. overall nice improvement. its really growing on me.

[anon(1522652)]

Maybe I am weird but I am one of the few people that never had a problem with Vista :S

[staticfiend]

Maybe I am weird but I am one of the few people that never had a problem with Vista :S

I have never had any problems either. And I've heard major horror stories.

[NysFinest4Ever]

I have never had any problems either. And I've heard major horror stories.

Vista is just one of those OSs where some people love it and others hate it.. I think windows 7 will change that.. Although you cant expect to please everyone. I am one of those ppl that hate vista, for so many reason. I installed windows 7 on a test machine that was running vista and this machine that ran sluggish on vista is running like a gem. To be fair I did do a clean install so that could have something to do with it.. but for a beta build and its already making vista look like the boated OS it is.. I cant wait for the final code of this OS. I cant remember the last time I was excited about an MS OS.

[howie]

I wonder how much of Windows 7 is actually changed versus just a cover up to Vista (like their Mojave commercials "This is actually Windows Vista")

[JustPlainJef]

I've also had no issues with Vista, and I've ran a few different versions / builds of it. A few buddies are also running it and they are good to go.

I think part of the problem is that some people spend $250 on a new Dell PC and they expect it to run Vista super fast. It's not gonna happen. My Vista builds have always been quick and not bloated. I just built a PC for a customer on $380 worth of parts, and that was snappy when it came to Vista.

The only issue I ever had was a old $20 TV card that didn't work with my first Vista build, but the Windows Media Center was so impressive that I kept those parts (except the TV card) so I could put together another Vista box to work as my DVR.