Microsoft releases Windows 7 to MSDN, TechNet today
Final code reaches select few
What you need to know about cloud backup
Microsoft is shoving the finalised version of Windows 7 out the door today for a select bunch of customers.
The operating system, which was released to manufacturing last month, is now available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.
Additionally, some independent software and hardware vendors can also expect to get their mitts on the goods from today.
On Friday Software Assurance subscribers - typically corporates with volume licence deals for the OS - will be able to download the official RTM English version of Windows 7 from tomorrow via the Volume Licence Software Centre website.
Other large businesses will get the completed version of Windows 7 from 1 September.
The small biz world and individual consumers have to wait until the official launch of the OS on 22 October.
Meanwhile, anyone wishing to fiddle with the Windows 7 Release Candidate version of the operating system has until 20 August to download it.
Redmond will doubtless be crossing its fingers and hoping for a smooth ride today, when its loyal army of MSDN and TechNet subscribers begin grabbing the finalised code from the company's servers.
Oh, and as seems to be pretty much standard practice these days, the complete RTM 7600 build of Windows 7 has already begun rocking up on BitTorrent sites, too. ®
COMMENTS
A request, please!
I see all you little MS fanbois getting very excited about your new toy, can I ask when Ubuntu 9.10 and Snow Leopard appear and the rest of us get excited about our toys, you don't start taking your pot-shots?
I think Win7 is a fantastic O/S, best thing MS has done in years and I hope it works out for them. I really enjoyed playing with the demo, it worked well, didn't crash once and looked very slick. MS have a bit of a struggle to repair the damage Vista did, especially to businesses, but the XP mode should help.
Enjoy!
Lets guess the number of updates on 23rd Oct
I'm guessing 78 available updates on 23rd October 2009, by the time it is actually on general release, thats about 1 less than Windows XP SP2. You see progress has been made.
@Bill Gould
I have it on three machines. Two 64-bit and my netbook which is 32-bit. Very, very stable. Double check your virus pro. Our corporate McAffee version had problems with my 64-bit workstation "laptop," and Norton made my home system boot like a dog. I have moved off to a different vendor for all three systems not to return. No preference right now, but open to suggestion. Just in test phase with one right now, and it is doing ok.
Install it on your work laptop as soon as you can. Once you start using it privately I think you will see what I mean. At first I was a little suspicious of the change to the task bar, but once you get the hang of it you will not be able to work without it. Right click options, smart grouping, preview thumbnails, close and open options. There are a ton of other enhancements, but I do not want to sound like a commercial and half the fun is saying, "Hey! That is cool." when you discover some of the things that have been done. One more tidbit, is check out Virtual XP mode. There are uses beyond the obvious legacy stuff in the event you need multiple versions of the same application. Eg. when the public beta of Office 2010 comes out I will put 2007 in Virtual XP and install 2010 on Windows 7, and both will be available transparently through the start menu.
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