If you’re feeling adventuresome, you can get a jump on the rest of the world by being one of the first to try out Windows 7. That’s the next version of Windows which Microsoft plans to release “when it’s ready,” probably by the end of this year.

I used the first beta version of Windows 7 over the past few months and have been testing for the past week the “release candidate” dubbed “Windows 7 RC” that was made available for public testing on Monday. My experience has been quite positive. Both the test and RC version of Windows 7 were more stable than Vista.

Microsoft is allowing anyone to download and install a free copy of the operating system so that it can be tested on wide range of machines. Microsoft is recommending that you install Windows 7 on a “dedicated test PC,” admonishing users not to test the it “on your primary home or business PC.”

Installing any new operating system — especially one that’s not officially released or supported — can be risky. Be sure you have a complete backup of your system and have a plan of action should something fail.

The release candidate is available for free “at least through July” for those willing to jump over a few hurdles. You have to download a 2.36 gigabyte file which could take a considerable amount of time depending on your Internet speed and how busy Microsoft’s servers are.

What you download is an ISO file which must be burned to a DVD before you can install it on

a machine, so be sure you have DVD burner and a blank DVD handy. Microsoft says that your machine will need a 1 ghz or faster CPU, at least 1 GB of RAM (I recommended at least 2 GB) and at least 16 GB available disk space (more is better). The 64-bit version has higher requirements.

You can install Windows 7 over Vista but not earlier versions of Windows. I recommend a “clean install” which requires that you re-install all your software when you’re done.

The installation process went very smoothly and most of my hardware worked properly thanks to Windows 7 built-in drivers. Most simply installed automatically. It discovered my Brother International laser printer on my network and installed it without me having to download any new drivers.

So far, all of the programs I’ve tested work. There were a few that gave me a bit of trouble at first, but right clicking on a program’s icon brings up the Windows 7 “troubleshoot compatibility” tool that usually takes care of things.

My favorite feature in Windows 7 is the taskbar, which not only displays running programs but lets you “pin” frequently used programs so you can run or switch to them with a single click. When you hover your mouse over an icon of a program that’s running, you see thumbnails of all of the open windows for that program. If you move the mouse into the thumbnail, it grows much larger. Click on that larger window and you’re in the program. This feature makes it a lot easier to navigate between documents or Web sites.

Although an improvement over previous versions, it still retains some of Windows annoying attributes. For one thing, it will slow down over time. Still, it’s noticeably faster than Vista which is at least a step in the right direction. For more details on Windows, see Ed Bott’s excellent write-up on ZDNet (http://tinyurl.com/cf4m7j).

Source: San Jose Mercury News

After the overwhelming response to Windows 7 and requests for features from users, Microsoft has finally released the feature list of the Windows 7 Release Candidate. This release candidate of Windows 7 is expected to arrive on April 10, 2009, as per Ars Technica.

In all, Microsoft’s senior program manager, Chaitanya Sareen, outlined 36 changes in the Windows 7 release candidate. Minor changes will give users more control than what they had in the Windows 7 beta. However, Paul Thurrott dismissed these “laundry list of tiny changes, much like the ’300+ New Features!’ lists that Apple makes every time it ships a new version of Mac OS X.”
Here are a few important changes we’d like to highlight:

Windows Flip (Alt+Tab) with Aero Peek
The ALT+TAB window feature will be implemented in Aero Peek. Time delay in flipping between and cycling through windows will be displayed in the respective window through Aero Peek.

Keyboard shortcut: Windows Logo+ #
Keyboard speed and efficiency freaks would love the new keyboard shortcut – Windows Logo key + # key. This new shortcut will give you access to the taskbar for launching and switching to a program that is running.

Touch-y tweaks
This much hyped touch feature in Windows 7 gets some improvements like multi-touch keyboard, drag-n-drop support, and multi-touch right click in the release candidate.

Native .mov file support
Say adios to QuickTime, for now, Windows 7 RC will allow .mov file playback on the fly.

FAT32 support
Support for non-removable FAT32 and NTFS hard drives will be added, which was absent in Windows 7 Beta.

Several enhancements and performance tweaks have been added in the exhaustive list of changes. We know that the new features are going to disappoint many users (read: testers), but this time Microsoft is taking each step carefully to not repeat past mistakes.

Rumors based on insider information indicate the release of Windows 7 RC on April 10, 2009. Let’s hope Microsoft has learned its lesson from the Windows 7 beta launch and will be well prepared for the Windows 7 Release Candidate roll-out.

Source: TechTree

Neowin is reporting a date of April 10th for the release of Windows 7 RC, the next important version of the OS. Microsoft confirmed that beta users won’t receive the RC before the general public.

Not all that much is known about the next release: it was rumored to be in April, but it’s unclear how Neowin came by this particular date. Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President of Windows, noted that there will be a broad release, meaning us guinea pigs won’t get any bonuses for putting in beta time with 7. Sinofsky also mentioned that Microsoft has received more than 500,000 suggestions from the “send feedback” link alone, and that they’re working on user concerns in preparation for the release date of the RC.

Source: gizmodo.com