[Yr7-10it] Windows 7 Beta available

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Information on Downloading and Installing Windows 7 Beta

Posted by: Brandon LeBlanc 09:51 PM Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 207 

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/07/information-
on-downloading-and-installing-windows-7-beta.aspx

(and):  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

As of today, I am running the Windows 7 Beta on several different PCs 
including my laptop, my work PC, and my PC at home, which I upgraded 
recently to Windows 7 from Windows Vista SP1. (I’ll be outlining the PCs 
I’m using to test Windows 7 shortly.) I’m all connected with HomeGroup, 
I’ve got several different Libraries set up, and I’m loving the new 
Windows Taskbar. I’ve got Windows Media Center recording my favorite TV 
shows and my Zune 80 syncing up with the Zune software. And things are 
even better with Windows Live Essentials installed. I find the Windows 7 
Beta to be an amazing beta release and I am extremely excited for you to 
get your hands on it later this week! 

I’d like to take a moment to share some specifics regarding the Windows 7 
Beta that I think are very important for people looking to give Windows 7 
a spin. 

On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows 
enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page on Windows.com. 

The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not 
sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 
2.5 million people who download the beta. 

The Windows 7 Beta will be available in English, German, Japanese, 
Arabic, and Hindi, and each language will be available in 32-bit and 64-
bit versions (except Hindi which will only be available in 32-bit).

 Because the Windows 7 Beta will be offered download-only, it will be 
provided to you as an ISO image (an .iso file) that you download. After 
downloading either the 32-bit or 64-bit ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta, 
you will be required to burn the ISO image to a DVD to install Windows 7. 

So you want to be sure you have a DVD burner before spending the time 
downloading the ISO image. 

To burn the ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta to DVD, if your PC comes with 
Nero or Roxio products – you should be able to burn the ISO image to DVD. 
If you don’t already have DVD burning software on your PC, you can also 
check out ImgBurn which is free and can be downloaded here. 

The Windows 7 Beta only supports Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 upgrades. 

So if you intend to do an upgrade – be sure it is on a PC running Windows 
Vista with Service Pack 1. We are not yet announcing anything regarding 
finalized upgrade paths for Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Beta will be only available in one edition, which is 
roughly equivalent the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista. 

Also, another important thing to keep in mind is that the Windows 7 Beta 
will expire on August 1st, 2009. 

I also need to emphasize that this is a beta of an unreleased operating 
system. Be sure to backup all your important data. As much as the Windows 
7 Beta completely rocks, part of the beta process is discovering bugs and 
reporting those bugs. Some of those bugs could possibly lead to data 
loss. 

I tend to be a risk-taker myself and have gone all-out with the Windows 7 
Beta by putting it on almost all my PCs both at work and at home, but not 
everyone should do this. I recommend using Windows Vista’s Backup and 
Restore features to ensure your information is backed up before trying 
out the Windows 7 Beta. Click here for several methods of backing up your 
data in Windows Vista.

The Windows 7 Beta is targeted toward the enthusiast crowd – people 
excited and knowledgeable with technology. If you don’t quite understand 
much of what I’ve written above, it is probably best you don’t try to 
install the Windows 7 Beta. 

If you are an IT Professional, you can visit the Springboard Series for 
Windows 7 on TechNet (see the Windows 7 tab) on January 9th to sign up 
for the Windows 7 Beta but also can also get access to dynamic resources 
including video walkthroughs and the new Windows 7 forums.
--

Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria, Australia