gHacks technology news » windows 7 beta http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:22:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Windows 7 Beta To Go Into Crazy Mode On July 1 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/24/windows-7-beta-to-go-into-crazy-mode-on-july-1/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/24/windows-7-beta-to-go-into-crazy-mode-on-july-1/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:48:45 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=13818 windows 7You might want to consider switching to the Windows 7 Release Candidate before July 1 if you are still running the (excellent) Windows 7 Beta release. The beta will go into crazy mode – please bear with me, those are my words for what will be happening from that day on – which simply means that the operating system will reboot every 2 hours automatically to give the user a friendly reminder that the Windows 7 beta has reached the end of its lifetime.

Users who are not intimidated by the reboot cycle will run into another problem starting August 1 where the operating system will expire completely.

Users still running the beta release of Windows 7 have the option to upgrade to the release candidate build. Microsoft has blocked a direct upgrade but that can be fixed by editing one resource file. Interested users can visit the Windows 7 Beta To RC Upgrade article over at Windows 7 News. The same technique can most likely also be used to upgrade the Windows 7 Release Candidate to the final release of the operating system.

The Windows 7 Release Candidate can still be downloaded from the official Microsoft website. Product keys are handed out as well on those pages.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/24/windows-7-beta-to-go-into-crazy-mode-on-july-1/feed/ 5 5 Great New Features Of Windows 7 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/13/5-great-new-features-of-windows-7/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/13/5-great-new-features-of-windows-7/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:55:47 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=9866 Do not worry. This article will not contain the same old blabla that most of the other Windows 7 toplist articles will mention. It will instead concentrate on five lesser known but powerful new features that increase productivity by a large margin.

You might want to check out our article about Windows 7 which has all the information you need to download the beta of the new Microsoft operating system. If you are not convinced yet that this is a good idea read on; You might be surprised:

1. Opening multiple Instances of the same program

Want to open multiple instances of the same program? Maybe a second command prompt or another application that can be opened in multiple instances? Instead of opening the program again the usual way you can simply press the SHIFT key and left-click on the first instance in the Windows Taskbar to open a second one.

2. Problem Steps Recorder

If you ever had to do phone support you know how hard it can be to understand what the user on the other end of the phone did and wants. The Problem Steps Recorder is a sweet little tool in Windows 7 that can be used by the user to record his steps.

psr.exe

All that the user needs to do is start the recorder by entering psr in the Start Menu box and click on Start Record in the program interface. Screenshots will be taken from user actions. It is possible to add comments at any time if the user feels so. The whole recording will be saved as a zip file containing a slideshow of the actions.

3. Pin Favorite Folders

Want to add a favorite folders to Windows Explorer to be able to access them faster? Just drag and drop the folder to the favorites menu. It will remain there until you delete it with the delete key again.

4. Moving Windows and such

Windows 7 introduces several new keyboard shortcuts for window management. Some useful ones are:

  • [Windows Shift Left Arrow] or [Windows Shift Right Arrow] to move windows from one computer monitor to another.
  • [Windows Left Arrow] or [Windows Right Arrow] to dock windows to the left or right side
  • [Windows Up Arrow] to maximize a window
  • [Windows Down Arrow] to restore or minimize windows
  • [Windows Home] to minimize all windows but the active one

5. Shortcuts to start pinned taskbar items

Pressing [Win Number] will start a new instance of a pinned taskbar item. You should also note that the items can be dragged and dropped into different positions easily.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/13/5-great-new-features-of-windows-7/feed/ 15 Windows 7 Beta Download Without Limits http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/11/windows-7-beta-download-without-limits/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/11/windows-7-beta-download-without-limits/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:02:35 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=9816 We have posted an article about the problems that were encountered during the initial Windows 7 Beta release on January 9. Users who wanted to download the beta on the release date were greeted with all kinds of error messages which had the result that only a few were actually able to grab a Windows 7 Beta key and to download the release completely.

We suggested that the problems could have been caused by an artificial limitation of network resources. While that was only one possibility it does make even more sense considering that Microsoft decided to lift the 2.5 million key limit for the next 14 days.

Every user will get a working Windows 7 Beta product key if he requests one before January 24. Users who want to request a key and download the Windows 7 Beta release can do so here. Everything seems to be running smoothly and without errors.


Due to an enormous surge in demand, the download experience was not ideal so we listened and took the necessary steps to ensure a good experience. We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit.

What’s your take on the release? Were the problems during the initial Windows 7 release caused by bad planning and underestimation of demand or intentional?

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/11/windows-7-beta-download-without-limits/feed/ 6 Microsoft Did Not Expect Such A High Windows 7 Beta Demand http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/10/microsoft-did-not-expect-such-a-high-windows-7-beta-demand/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/10/microsoft-did-not-expect-such-a-high-windows-7-beta-demand/#comments Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:10:50 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=9777 You might have read that the first public beta release of Windows 7 was supposed to happen yesterday. If you followed the news on that day you might know that the beta was first seen on the Chinese Technet site which immediately came to an halt after the news spread. Download links went up on other Microsoft sites afterwards but they all led to error messages like “Server is to busy” or “This site is currently experiencing technical issues”. While some early downloaders got their keys and ISO images most did not. Some spend most of the day on the Microsoft site trying to get a key.

Later that day Microsoft posted a new message on stating “Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal — we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand”. The download has been postponed and Microsoft is tight-lipped about the new release date of the beta release.

This is not the first release that is going bad. And it is not always Microsoft that is not able to predict correctly. It seems that most multi-national corporations have prediction difficulties. Who would not have thought that users around the globe would access the Microsoft servers to get one of the 2.5 million Beta keys after the announcement that the keys would be limited?

A question that surely is coming up is whether this resource limitation was intentional. Is it good or bad news if many more users than expected wanted to download the Windows 7 Beta. It is bad news for the individuals who tried to download it but it is good news for Microsoft as all news sites will report that the demand is incredible high.

That means there are two lines of though here. One is that Microsoft got their predictions about user interest in the Windows 7 beta wrong while the other is that Microsoft did not make use of their full infrastructure in order to create a groundbreaking demand of the product.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/10/microsoft-did-not-expect-such-a-high-windows-7-beta-demand/feed/ 13 Windows 7 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/09/windows-7/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/09/windows-7/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:30:03 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=9750 We have not written many articles about Windows 7 here at Ghacks in the past. This was mainly because of the fact that virtually any other website on the planet did post every tidbit of news that they could get their hands on. Today however is an important date as Microsoft will publish a public download link to both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 Ultimate Beta on the official Windows 7 homepage. The download is capped at 2.5 million and will be removed from the website once that figure has been reached. This means that you will have to be fast to grab a copy of the Windows 7 Beta if you want to test it.

The Beta of Windows 7 is based on build 7000 which has been leaked to the dark side of the Internet last month. There has been lots of talk about the new “features” of Windows 7 and we do not want to get into detail here as you have most likely read about them all on other sites in the past months. To make it short: Windows 7 feels like a complete responsive operating system. Many users would say it looks and feels like a streamlined and optimized Windows Vista. It uses less system resources, is more responsive and has several usability improvements. It is interesting for instance that netbook manufacturers will release netbooks running on Windows 7 when it comes out, something that seems very unlikely for Windows Vista.

We (that’s me and Everton who writes at Connected Internet) have a Windows 7 site up which is reporting on all the news about the new Microsoft operating system. The site has a busy forum, probably the busiest Windows 7 forum out there at the moment. You can find hardware and software help at the Windows 7 forum, a tweaks section and several boards with general discussion about the upcoming operating system.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/09/windows-7/feed/ 7 Microsoft To Deliver Vista SP2 Before Windows 7 http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/16/microsoft-to-deliver-vista-sp2-before-windows-7/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/16/microsoft-to-deliver-vista-sp2-before-windows-7/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:46:14 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=7661 On October 2 Microsoft created a placeholder on the Microsoft Help and Support website that mentioned the two upcoming service packs Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2. No additional information was given at that time but the fact that the two service packs were listed was reason enough to believe that Microsoft was already deep in the development process.

According to ZDnet Microsoft has already send a beta of the Windows Vista Service Pack 2 to selected partners to receive feedback for the development process. Some users might wonder about Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 since there was no official release until now.

Windows Server 2008 was build on the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 codebase meaning the functionality is already included in the release of Windows Server 2008. It might still confuse customers who do not know that.

Both service packs are said to be released before the release of Windows 7 to avoid customer confusion since some might want to test the announced service pack 2 before making a decision whether to switch to Windows 7 or stick with Windows Vista.

Windows 7 is still on track to be released in the second half of 2009 with a first public beta coming out in late 2008.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/16/microsoft-to-deliver-vista-sp2-before-windows-7/feed/ 2 Windows 7 News http://www.ghacks.net/2008/04/22/windows-7-news/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/04/22/windows-7-news/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:26:46 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=3888 Microsoft is very reserved about Windows 7 in an effort to avoid damaging Windows Vista sales. The testers that already have copies of Windows 7, the new Microsoft operating system, are not that reserved and it is because of them that we see all those screenshots, videos and information popping up about the new Microsoft operating system. It is definitely in an early development stage and one should not get to excited – or disappointed – by the looks and features that have been revealed as of now.

Windows 7 News is reporting that a Chinese blogger revealed new information about the latest Windows 7 release publishing screenshots, a video and a large article on his website. The article has been pulled after only a few hours and it is unclear why it was pulled.

Thanks to Internet Caches though it was possible to reconstruct the article. The new release is displaying several new functions and layouts that have not been implemented in previous releases of Windows 7.

While most changes are marginal some might really improve the operating system. Windows Vista users won’t be happy to hear that the UAC, the User Account Control, is still in place. A change was implemented though which asks the user if he wants to temporarily disable UAC if more than one action that requires UAC is initiated.

Other changes have been made to the Windows Health Center, the Windows Explorer layout and the search in the Start Menu that is now displaying search results using the full width of the menu. Head over to Windows 7 news to take a look at the screenshots and videos that have been posted on the Chinese website.

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