HarryJerry.com » Windows 7

Windows 7 RTM is coming this August

Harry — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:28:02 +0000

After so much speculation and rumors floating all over about the release-to-manufactoring date of Microsoft’s Windows 7 the real dates are finally out. It’s still unclear whether the much hyped build 7600 is the one Microsoft is going to RTM with.

MSDN and TechNet subscribers shall be one of the first few to taste Windows 7 RTM on August 6 (English only) along with ISVs and IHV partners. Microsoft Gold certified resellers shall have access beginning August 16 (English only). The other language version shall be up for downloads later on.

The general availability i.e the one that’ll be preloaded on new computers and put on retail shall be no earlier than October 22.

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Windows 7 RC is coming in May!

Harry — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:56:42 +0000

From what appears to be a mistake from Microsoft’s end has led to the news that the Windows 7 Release Candidate is coming out as soon as next month. Yes that’s May! Microsoft had earlier claimed that it’ll release only one release candidate for it’s Windows 7 operating system. This will then be followed by the RTM which could go as far as Q3 of 2009.

The Windows 7 beta has so far worked well for me. I have been using it ever since it was released to the public. Windows 7 surely looks like one of the most solid operating systems to come out of Microsoft’s closet. The release candidate’s performance would further add to the anticipation for the final product.

Update: News just poured in. May 5 seems to be the date Microsoft is planning to roll out the Windows 7 RC.

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Essential Software for Windows 7

Harry — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:42:57 +0000

Windows 7 beta has come out surprisingly well. There’s no doubt that Microsoft has something really solid in it’s hands. I have been using Windows 7 beta ever since it came out. So far I have been impressed by this good looking, feature-packed and stable operating system. Something I really didn’t expect after a monkey experience tackling Windows Vista.

I have compiled a small list of essential software for your Windows 7 installation. When installed on a Windows 7 machine, these software should make your computing safe, efficient and power packed.

Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware/Firewall

A security software is a must-have for every Windows based machine. There are new loopholes discovered everyday and there are losers out there who’d want to get on your nerves. It’s very important to secure yourself with an anti-virus, anti-spyware and a powerful firewall. I recommend a single program that includes all these as it’s more convenient and there are no compatibility issues also.

- Kaspersky for Windows 7
- Norton 360 Version 3.0
- AVG’s Antivirus

Web Browsers

Windows 7 includes Internet Explorer 8. But then Internet Explorer is as ugly as your ex-girlfriend. Then there are security issues with IE 8, all the time. It makes sense to go for a less hungry, faster and more secure web browser.

- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Opera

Media Players

Windows 7 includes Windows Media Player 12 and MPEG 4 decoder by default, which is quite decent. But if you ask me I’ll say WMP 12 is fat ass and the MPEG 4 decoder in Windows 7 beta is quite sloppy. You can install a lighter media player and save that physical memory for other hot applications.

- VLC Media Player
- Apple Quicktime

CD/DVD Burning Software

Although Windows 7 includes a handy tool for burning .ISO based image files directly to a CD/DVD, you’ll still need a standalone program for burning a CD/DVD as per your own taste. You can also use the drag and drop feature to burn a CD/DVD but that’s totally uncool!

- Nero 9
- Roxio CD/DVD Burner

Document/Presentations Manager

This is a must-have for every machine and I don’t think I even need to mention it here. But still.

- Microsoft Office 2007/2003
- OpenOffice
- Adobe Acrobat Reader

[This list is still a primary one and I'll be adding more software here. Also feel free to make your recommendations and suggestions using the comments section below.]

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16 Really Cool Things in Windows 7 Beta!

Harry — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:06:24 +0000

1. Problem Steps Recorder

This is one major troubleshooting tool that could prove to be heavenly for those poor chaps at technical support. A software developer’s nightmare turned into a chocolate dream. Problem Steps recorder has been introduced by Microsoft in Windows 7. It records the steps executed by the user which is quite useful for troubleshooting. Although it may seem like just another screen capturing program but this nifty tool records those smooth moves that go behind the scenes as well.

2. Windows Aero Shake

Shake seems to be the buzz word. First it was Apple’s iPhone then it was Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phones with the shake feature and now Windows Aero dances to the shake tune. When you have several windows open on your Windows 7 desktop and you want to minimize all others while keeping one window active, you simply point your cursor to the title, hold the cursor and shake it using your mouse. Whoa!

3. Taskbar

The all new improved Windows 7 taskbar is one of the major visible cosmetic changes Microsoft introduced with Windows 7. I find the taskbar quite useful and enhanced as compared to Windows Vista. You can easily switch to the Windows Vista type taskbar easily. You can pin programs to the taskbar, arrange them, check out recent activities for a particular program, full window preview and lots more. A very handy feature indeed.

4. Windows Themes

Somehow I really like the themes in Windows 7. Being a developer I used to hate themes no matter what. To me a better performing system is right on the top priority when compared to a better looking one. I’d rather have an ugly desktop filled with chaos rather than shiny mountains or fishes dancing around on the desktop eating away all my system resources. But Windows 7 somehow changed me. I’m having zero performance issues (with themes installed) as compared to the same amount of system resources I used in Windows Vista. I also like the one click theme installation in Windows 7.

5. Quick Booting and Shut Down

Microsoft always claims that their brand new operating system boots super quick and shuts down even quicker. Windows XP seemed fair, Windows Vista had shut down issues while booting time was nothing spectacular. Windows 7 on the other hand impresses me every time I hit the power button. What impresses me even more is that this is still in beta. Whoa!

6. Easy to install fonts

I remember how installing fonts was a walk through hell for me. I am one big lazy ass. Microsoft seems to have provided some sort of a help to me by enabling me to directly install fonts from the font preview window. Now that’s what I call an operating system!

7. Hidden Wallpapers

I think Microsoft is quite secretive about the stuff they make. But then they let the secrets out in a jiffy. It’s like shying away from making love to your wife at first and the next moment you’re making love to every girl you meet. Ok this went too far. Coming back to Windows 7, the hidden wallpapers are a Windows 7 secret that you can discover at C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT

8. Where are the bugs?

So far I have come across two blue screens during my experience with Windows 7. Now that’s like two bad dates in a hundred. Considering Windows 7 is still in beta, Microsoft has got something really rock solid. I haven’t experienced any major system crashes or incompatibility issues.

9. Easy to install from thumb drive

Microsoft Windows 7 beta is really easily to install from a thumb drive. How easy? Your girlfriend could do it! That easy. You can simply copy the Windows 7 ISO file contents to a thumb drive. Make sure you format your thumb drive to FAT32 and use the xcopy command to copy the file contents to your thumb drive.

10. Jump Lists

I’m a Kangaroo thanks to Windows 7. I can now simply open a recently active file quickly rather than opening a program and then opening a file or looking for the file on the hard drive and double clicking it. Jump lists can help increase productivity to a great extent.

11. Wordpad can open Word 2007 files!

Wordpad in Windows 7 features the ribbon UI similar to the one Microsoft introduced with Office 2007. So if it looks like Paris Hilton can it act like one too? Yep! Wordpad in Windows 7 can open the dreadful .docx Word 2007 files. Since it’s Paris Hilton it can do a lot more too, it also features support for OpenDocument specification. How cool is that?

12. Paint gets useful!

Microsoft has been neglecting Paint like it was an ex-girlfriend of his. Paint has finally got a lot more useful now. The all new ribbon-UI makes Paint look good and also easy to use. Paint is quite handy for minor graphic editing jobs when you’re too lazy to wake up a monster graphic editing program.

13. Easy to burn .ISO files directly

Now this is something I really wanted in an operating system. Remember the times when you’ve had a clean installation and you need to burn .ISO file on a DVD and you’d freak out and hunt for a DVD burning software? Well not anymore. A handy applet handles burning of .ISO files directly in Windows 7. A pain killer for me!

14. HomeGroup Networking

HomeGroup has been introduced by Microsoft in Windows 7 to simplify sharing data and resources. Not only does it make networking very cool it also takes away all the pain you had to go through earlier.

15. ClearType Text and Display Calibration

I have always had issues with displays. Display tuning makes a hell lot of a difference in making your display a lot crisper. It’s quite easy to implement and the results are worth it.

16. Enhanced User Account Control

I remember the million times I have installed Windows Vista on my own as well as my friends’ computer systems, I have always turned off the nagging User Account Control feature each time. In Windows 7 this feature just got friendly. Now you have more options then earlier. It’s like being able to control your girlfriend’s nagging powers.

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Get your Windows 7 Beta Product Key!

Harry — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:06:24 +0000

Microsoft seems to have delayed the release of Windows 7 Beta on their website due to the excessive volume of traffic on their servers. Currently they’re in the process of adding more servers to enable people to download Windows 7 Beta. In the meanwhile you can download Windows 7 Beta using any of the direct download links available [WORKING]. Download the file and install your copy of Windows 7 Beta without entering a product key.

To get a product key you have two options. You can either wait, I know you can’t. Or you can try your luck. Here’s what you can do;

The following steps worked for me:
1. Login in you Passport account, for example, here.
2. Without closing the Passport page, open one of the following in a new tab:
Windows 7 Beta 32-bit
Windows 7 Beta 64-bit
[From: LifeHacker]

You’ll get an error but you have to keep trying until you get the product key. Once you get the product key you can activate Windows 7 Beta. Hope it works for you. Worked for me!

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Windows 7 Beta: Download Guide

Harry — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:03:24 +0000

It’s official. Steve Ballmer has announced the availability of Windows 7 Beta at the Consumer Electronics Show 2009 in Vegas. I’m already using the Windows 7 Beta on my laptop for the past couple of days. So far Windows 7 Beta is rock solid stable. The performance is much better than Windows Vista and Windows XP.

How to download Windows 7 Beta Download?

The Windows 7 Beta is available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers from today itself. For the rest of the public the public beta shall be available from Friday i.e 9 January 2009. So anyone can legally download their copy of Windows 7 Beta from the official Windows 7 web page. Remember that Windows 7 Beta will be available for a limited time only and to the first 2.5 million people only. I’ll post the download link right here once it is available so you can bookmark this page.

Here is the direct link to download Windows 7 Beta. Click here!

Direct Download Links: [Right click and choose 'Save target as' option. Open in IE or Firefox only]

Windows 7 x86 (32bit)

Windows 7 x64 (64 bit)

Is it legal to download Windows 7 Beta?

It’s totally legal mate! You must register and download from the Microsoft website only.

How can I install Windows 7 Beta?

Just like any other operating system. Windows 7 Beta installation is not rocket science. It is fairly easy to install and setup Windows 7 Beta on any system. The minimum system requirements are the same as Windows Vista. You can take a look at my installation review.

How can I find a serial key and activate Windows 7 Beta?

You will be provided with a Windows 7 Beta serial key once you register for downloading the public beta on the Microsoft website on Friday. You can then enter this serial key once you’re done with the installation and activate your copy of Windows 7 Beta. Please note that the Windows 7 Beta will expire on 1 August 2009.

More on Windows 7 Beta:

Windows 7 Beta Installation
Windows 7 Beta : First Impressions
What’s new in Windows 7 ?

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Windows 7 Beta: What all is new?

Harry — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:59:36 +0000

Kernel: Microsoft’s Windows 7 beta includes an enhanced kernel as compared to it’s predecessor Windows Vista. Windows 7 is supposed to include the MinWin kernel Microsoft demonstrated earlier last year. It’s clear that Windows 7 supports parallel processing capabilities, which will be implemented as .NET 4.0.

Sensors: Windows 7 includes a new facility called Sensors which can be used for broadcasting your location to your friends, letting programs know about your location to enable them to offer customized content. This may raise a few privacy-concerned eyebrows but this facility, like other useless stuff, can be shut down.

Improved User Account Control: Microsoft introduced the User Account Control feature with it’s Windows Vista operating system. It has been completely transformed from a buggy monster to a well mannered functionality. Now you have four different notification options for this feature. You can either turn off notifications completely or you can choose to be notified at various levels when a program tries to install or make changes to your computer.

New Application User Interface: Microsoft has included a brand new application user interface called Scenic. It gives all Windows 7 applications a consistent look and feel and it’s totally customizable.

Explorer: All the special shell folders such as Pictures, Documents, Videos etc. have been renamed Libraries in Windows 7. Windows 7 also features a modified Windows Explorer. The new explorer includes features such as a search box which is resizable, a neat toolbar, and a new view style called Content which is primarily a preview mode.

Few Applications by Default: Windows 7 does not include Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail or Windows Photo Gallery. These come as optional installations through Windows Live. You can download and install any of these applications yourself once you’re done installing Windows 7. So no more useless crap hanging on to your hard drive.

HomeGroup: Windows 7 will make it easier for you to share files, media and hardware on a network using HomeGroup networking. It’s damn easy to set up and the network access is password protected.

Windows PowerShell: Windows 7 includes a .NET based scripting environment called PowerShell V2. It’ll also include an integrated scripting environment.

Better Display: The one thing I really liked about Windows Vista was the slick display. With Windows 7 it gets even better. Using Windows 7 it’s easier to connect to multiple displays. Windows 7 includes glossy Aero themes with custom colors, background, sounds etc. You can choose to display backgrounds randomly at a specific time interval.

These are some of the major changes in Windows 7 beta. I’m expecting some new features and enhanced existing features in the final version that’ll be released sometime later this year.

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Windows 7 Beta Review: First Impressions

Harry — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:54:49 +0000

Once you’re done installing Windows 7 beta you are greeted with a sexier and improved desktop as compared to Windows Vista. The new taskbar stands out visibly. Here’s a review of the first impressions I’ve had using Windows 7 beta.

1. Improved sexy new taskbar

The new improved taskbar is straight out of the Mac style books. No more active windows clutter on the taskbar as all active windows are grouped under the program icon on the new taskbar. There are full page previews available on the taskbar as your hover through the icons. Pretty neat but it could be a whole lot better than this in the final cut.

2. Go jumping with Jump Lists!

Time is money and most of the times you want to get to files real quick. Microsoft has been kind enough by introducing better jump lists with Windows 7. Now you can quickly reach recently edited files, websites, favourite programs at a click of a button.

3. Smart Windows

To maximize a window you have to simply drag it towards the top of the screen, dragging a window to the side of the screen resizes the window for an easy side by side review of windows. Dragging the mouse to the lower right corner of the screen turns all windows transparent.

4. Internet Explorer 8 Beta

We’ve all had Internet Explorer beta for quite some time now. Windows 7 will hopefully include the complete product when it releases to manufacturing. The first thing I did was changing my default browser from Internet Explorer 8 to Google Crome. I still feel Crome is a lot more useful than IE.

5. Look ma it’s the new Paint!

Microsoft has finally given Paint some due attention after a long taking-it-for-granted time. Paint now features the Ribbon user interface similar to the one you see on Microsoft Office 2007. Paint just got a lot more useful and practical.

This is my first quick impression of Windows 7! A lot of things have changed for the good and I’m looking forward to putting Microsoft’s latest OS into the test. I’ll post more of on my Windows 7 beta review soon.

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Windows 7 Beta Review: Installation

Harry — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:13:36 +0000

Formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna, Windows 7 is Microsoft’s latest operating system. Windows 7 was announced in 2007 after the launch of it’s predecessor Windows Vista. Microsoft claims Windows 7 would not vomit compatibility issues at the user and it’ll be an incremental update to the previous operating system from Microsoft. Windows 7 is believed to be more user centric than previous operating systems from Microsoft. Some of the major enhancements incorporated into Windows 7 are support for multi-touch display, brand new shiny Windows Shell with a shinier taskbar, performance improvements and a whole lot of sugary stuff Microsoft claims, just like they did in their previous operating systems. An operating system is like a woman in your life. Every new one is supposed to be better than the previous one. You realize the truth only after a passage of time.

I got my hands on Windows 7 Beta 1 (build 6.1.7000.0.081212-1400), the one that is rumored to be released widely later during January. The Beta 1 is similar to the M3 versions released to the testers earlier. This beta version is quite stable as compared to the M3 releases and the code can easily qualify for a release candidate build. I’ve tested the previous builds and this one I must say is quite stable and a performance booster. I’ll be posting my reviews on Windows 7 Beta 1 every single day. Let’s start with the installation part today!

Windows 7 Beta Installation

Microsoft made a major shift as far as an operating system installation is concerned with Windows Vista. Windows 7 comprises of a very similar installation to Vista, only it’s much quicker and less annoying. On a powerful system the installation takes anywhere between 15-20 minutes or less and on any medium powered system (like mine), it takes around 20-25 minutes. There are fewer steps involved during installation and the OS doesn’t keep you from getting started once the installation is removed (remember the performance test after a Vista installation? No more!). Windows 7 requires at least 10GB of free storage space on your primary partition. You can choose to either upgrade to Windows 7 from a previous Windows installation or make a clean install.

I’ll post the Windows 7 user interface and first impressions soon!

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