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Windows 7 Beta imminent?

Dec. 19, 2008 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

Looks like the rumors of a December 19 release of the Windows 7 Beta 1 may, in fact, be accurate. Microsoft has added the following info to their public Windows 7 Web site today:

Download the Windows 7 Beta

The link errors out (for now). Most interesting!

Thanks to Tom Warren from Neowin, who IM’d me from his iPhone. Now, that’s dedication! :) Thanks man.

Discuss this Article 54

weedmonk
on Dec 19, 2008
Let it be true. Would be really nice holiday surprise from MS.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Dec 19, 2008
I know I'd love to have a nice beta to play with while we're snowed in here.
pjc007
on Dec 19, 2008
With the tech beta invites just having been sent out, I'd be surprised (very pleasantly so!) if the public beta is available so soon. That said, I *will* be checking that link pretty frequently in the next day or so ;) PJC
MikeNL
on Dec 19, 2008
awesome! hope it is true. M.
amorach
on Dec 19, 2008
Should be good!
Ocean
on Dec 19, 2008
Winfinfo: >>So let's just dispense with the silliness and state the obvious: Something is wrong. I'm not saying that Jobs is dying, but come on. You don't do something like this, with this timing, unless you're a) pathologically stupid or b) lying.<< Jon Gruber called them 'spiteful' Of all the reasons I've read, this one makes the most sense: >>Apple began making more and more major announcements at Apple-controlled media events, not only at the Apple campus, but at Moscone West in San Francisco, at the Yerba Buena Theater in San Francisco, and even at the California Theater in San Jose. Those events were timed by Apple, controlled by Apple, and attended only by Apple’s invited guests—VIPs, members of the media, analysts, and Apple employees. The public couldn’t get in, and there was no intermediary like IDG World Expo to get in the way. But I think most important was the timing—Apple could announce products when it damn well wanted to, rather than being forced to adhere to a trade-show calendar that’s usually set years in advance.<< http://www.macworld.com/article/137596/2008/12/apple_kills_expo_reax.html
Ocean
on Dec 19, 2008
This is just plain creepy: http://db.tidbits.com/article/9956
Ocean
on Dec 19, 2008
What's coming in the Windows 7 beta We're making Windows 7 for you. This means we're: * Tailoring it for laptops * Making it work the way you do * Designing it for web services * Building it for entertainment * Engineering it to be easy to own and manage
Ymaster587
on Dec 19, 2008
Hoo boy, Merry christmas from microsoft.
techfan
on Dec 19, 2008
I wonder if my XP machine will be able to run the beta? I'm getting a brand-spanking new computer once Windows 7 comes out! (I actually bought a Vista-ready XP machine but MS delayed Vista and my new computer wasn't "ready" anymore.)
tayme
on Dec 19, 2008
@Ocean - What is the point of your rambling posts? You really need your own blog. If you post the URL, I am sure many of us would check it out <-- wink, wink; nudge, nudge; say no more. --tayme
shark47
on Dec 19, 2008
How is it possible for MS to delay the Beta release from Jan to December? That's impossible. No Beta for any of you.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
Snowed in here. Watching vids online. Found a funny one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3zBPnIYavI Shorter version here with extremely funny ending:(Best. Editing. Ever!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhgv85m852Q ....NSFW, but who the f* is working on a day like today? ;)
subzerohitman721
on Dec 19, 2008
I really do hope its true. I would love to give Windows 7 a go before the holidays and show it off. Would be a lot of fun indeed. If it was true, poor Randall Kennedy would have to eat a lot of crow.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Dec 19, 2008
subzero Randall Kennedy would just announce that he'd personally convinced the Windows team to release the beta early.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Dec 19, 2008
subzero Randall Kennedy would just announce that he'd personally convinced the Windows team to release the beta early.
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
The big question is which will ship first? Windows 7 or Snow Leopard. They both seem to be moving the time frame up. I would think MS would be able to get it out the door faster since Windows 7 is Vista SP2 with some minor changes vs Snow Leopard is ripping out all that PPC code, plus minor changes, plus adding Grand Central. If you read this it would lead you to think there is value in being first. I dont think there is as I would not seriously adopt either for at least 3-6 months at home and even longer at work. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/apple-snow-leopard
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
BTW: Regarding the "global warming" vs. "climate change" argument in yesterdays article, what ever happened to calling the cause by it's real name: POLLUTION!
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
I saw 60min or Dateline or whatever about 2 weeks ago about this place in China where the world ships their E-waste.....bad news really bad news. Poster child for pollution.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
Ever since they stopped naming the cause outright, it's become a hotly debated issue. Is "Climate Change" or "Global Warming" real? Who cares? Air pollution is, and it's not good for you. So STOP IT! End of story. (sorry to hijack this thread, but nobody addressed this pov yesterday)
weedmonk
on Dec 19, 2008
"The big question is which will ship first? Windows 7 or Snow Leopard. " You just keep on telling yourself that and link articles extolling the relevance and significance of OSX latest service pack... Snow Kitty.
kanwaljit
on Dec 19, 2008
That's not only it.. Much of the toxic scrap waste from the 911 terrorist attacks was shipped to India.. and other asian countries.. http://tinyurl.com/4osz9c
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
"You just keep on telling yourself that and link articles extolling the relevance and significance of OSX latest service pack... Snow Kitty." I think you need more weed....weedmonk. I have no idea what you mean by that. Both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard have seemed to move their ship dates up. My only point in linking that article is to show that the author thinks Apple is trying to beat MS out the door. I personally dont think that should be motivation for either and I said its not like the masses will rush to either.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
If Snow Leopard is moved up, isn't that just admitting to the problems with 10.5.6?
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
I saw a discovery channel program on India and how they scrap old ships, it was in HD no less. It was an amazing story. They will run these old oil tankers as light as they can (fuel and supplies) then drive them at the beach as fast as they can go. A shore team will guide them (left/right) so they drive up this beach as far as then can go. Then this crew of low paid workers start ripping it apart. They eventually have to drag it up on the beach as the front part of the ship is removed. People get killed all the time, toxic waste all over the place. A shanty town has been erected by the workers that looks like a refugee camp. The whole thing was sad, and a handful of company owners make big $$$ off of it.
realtestman
on Dec 19, 2008
I heard that it was a mistake in publishing. See, they have changed the page already.
Ocean
on Dec 19, 2008
Mike, you'll enjoy this one: >>Chris Nikkel and FreedomVoice Systems have spent nearly half a million dollars on marketing and developing Newber. The application is aimed at allowing users to seamlessly redirect incoming calls to any surrounding phones. -- Since investing nearly five-hundred thousand dollars in the development and marketing of Newber, they still have not been accepted into the App Store.<< http://www.macblogz.com/2008/12/17/iphone-dev-spends-500k-on-development...
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
"If Snow Leopard is moved up, isn't that just admitting to the problems with 10.5.6?" Lol....sure whatever. If Windows 7 was created is that admitting that Vista was a total failure, especially when it comes to corporate adoption? Snow Lepoard could have been moved up for several reasons, it was easier to rip out the PPC code than they had thought, especially since they have admitted that there wont much of anything new??? Maybe they are trying to beat MS to the punch as that article suggests I have or anyone on this thread has NO IDEA on either to be honest.
shark47
on Dec 19, 2008
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/gao-report-us-u.html A lot of the e-waste from the US is shipped to developing countries. Green is a myth.
Delmont
on Dec 19, 2008
Hey, when OS X gets more than 4% of the market, then talk to me about delays in a pushing out a new O/S. Back on topic....I"m eager to see a full beta of Win7. I personally can't even imagine still having to use WinXP.
shark47
on Dec 19, 2008
"I would think MS would be able to get it out the door faster since Windows 7 is Vista SP2 with some minor changes vs Snow Leopard is ripping out all that PPC code, plus minor changes, plus adding Grand Central." Whatever you say, robertsjoe SP2.
pjc007
on Dec 19, 2008
Now you see it.... Now you don't. The beta download link (which was the whole point of this blog entry before folks went off on their tangents) has now been removed from the Windows 7 page. Nothing to see here...move along...
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
"Whatever you say, robertsjoe SP2." Ahh I guess there is no thought of normal discussion. I was not saying either was better or worse or whatever just that I wondered why both are pushing up their releases. Then again I am talking to Mr, J@ck@$$, from the grand blood line of J@ck@$$es from I have read. Do you have a family crest? Links?
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/alang-sby.htm Ship Breaking in India with pictures and all...
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
http://gizmodo.com/5079133/60-minutes-reporter-investigates-chinas-e+was... 60min e-waste video of the attack on the reporters taking video.
kanwaljit
on Dec 19, 2008
That is bad bad bad! The ship scrap companies make big money, never caring that the toxic waste they are handling is hazardous. Frankly, they don't give a damn! But one of the most important reason they exist is because there is demand for it. Ship companies from US etc. find it much cheaper to simply send the waste to India etc, instead of going through an expensive routine of following the EPA regulations for detoxifying the scrap. US, UK and western world is equally at fault, if not more, for this situation.. sorry for those OT posts btw.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Dec 19, 2008
Ocean I'd bet that the Newber people are spending their time now between kicking themselves for developing first for Apple and finding more ways to use the (now 78 day) delay in being able to start up as free publicity while the product sits on the shelf and the servers sit idle. It's a clever idea that just piggybacks on a VoIP client and (probably SIP) servers so there's no reason they're tied to any specific platform. Any client with the bandwidth to run a SIP based VoIP client could work with their backend. Of course, you can do similar things with Microsoft's OCS but not every business sets up Unified Communications so this gives them a nice niche if Apple ever lets them ship.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
"If Windows 7 was created is that admitting that Vista was a total failure" Considering that the delta time between Vista and 7 is the same as between Windows 95 and 98, do you honestly think that Microsoft considers Windows 95 a failure?
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
"Considering that the delta time between Vista and 7 is the same as between Windows 95 and 98, do you honestly think that Microsoft considers Windows 95 a failure?" Straight out of the Mike Galso book of change the subject. After 2 years was Windows 95 corporate adoption rate 4%? Honestly I dont care but if you want to look that up have at it.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Dec 19, 2008
No, Lindy, changing the subject is taking a post responding to the strange allegation that time between releases signifies failure and responding with adoption rates in corporations. (If you're going to accuse me of things, at least spell the name right)
shark47
on Dec 19, 2008
"Ahh I guess there is no thought of normal discussion. I was not saying either was better or worse or whatever just that I wondered why both are pushing up their releases." Yeah, you expect a rational discussion when you start your post by referring to Windows 7 as Windows Vista SP2. "Then again I am talking to Mr, J@ck@$$, from the grand blood line of J@ck@$$es from I have read. Do you have a family crest? Links?" Oh, come on robertsjoe SP2. Don't get your panties in a bunch over this.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
"After 2 years was Windows 95 corporate adoption rate 4%? Honestly I dont care but if you want to look that up have at it." I'd like to see corporate adoption rates going from NT 3.51 to NT 4.
shark47
on Dec 19, 2008
So, the delta between Windows Vista and 7 is 3 years, which is the same as the delta between 95 and 98. I guess that means this isn't really unusual. What does lindy do? He talks about the corporate adoption of Windows 95. He's trying to have it both ways ... just like robertsjoe.
panache1023
on Dec 19, 2008
Mike, your inability to follow a disagreement / dialogue is truly baffling.
panache1023
on Dec 19, 2008
Shark, the fact that you couldn't follow Lindy's point is truly remarkable...I expected it of Mike Galos (and got it), but not from you, who usually seems way more level headed.
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
Lol....I am pretty sure Canadiot brought up Windows 95, and the only reason I said anything about Vista or 95 at all is because Canadiot said this first... "If Snow Leopard is moved up, isn't that just admitting to the problems with 10.5.6?" Shark no worries I dont wear any panties at all maybe your thinking about some trip you made to Canada, to a Vista users where you swapped panties or something? Also Shark my I did not refer to Windows 7 as Vista SP2. I said Windows 7 will be "Windows 7 is Vista SP2 with some minor changes" Meaning Windows 7 will be Vista at its core, with the latest updates, that being SP2 which will come out right before Windows 7, plus some minor changes. Snow Leopard will be Leopard, minus the PPC code, which under the hood is a hefty change, plus some minor updates (Exchange 2007 support for mail/ical/addressbook) and that whole NVIDIA Open CL/Grand Central GPU stuff, which wont be a big deal upon release since nothing will support it at the time. My only point in this thread was that is seems like both Apple and MS are really pushing to get these both out. Windows 7 was originally dated for 01/2010 and Snow Leopard on 6/2009. From the recent rumors both will be brought out much sooner. This whole thread was started because Paul thought that the first beta was coming out possibly today, again ahead of schedule.
gorath
on Dec 19, 2008
Oh, that's waht grand central is! I'd heard the name, but had no idea what it was about. I'm more interested in the (very) underground rumours that Nvidia want to make a CPU based on their graphics technology. mmmmmmmmmmmmm. crazy! Also, gutted that the beta isn't out today.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
"My only point in this thread was that is seems like both Apple and MS are really pushing to get these both out." No, Apple is rushing theirs out, since Leopard came out AFTER Windows Vista, and Snow Leopard sounds like it might come out BEFORE Windows 7. Microsoft is back on schedule, as I've shown, and as has history (except for the gap between XP and 7). If you really care to debate that, then you're as stupid as I thought. "Shark no worries I dont wear any panties at all" His gimp-daddy has him wearing seatless leather chaps.
Waethorn
on Dec 19, 2008
"Windows 7 was originally dated for 01/2010 and Snow Leopard on 6/2009" Sources please. Guessing release dates does nothing for your [already non-existant] credibility.
Lindy
on Dec 19, 2008
Canadiot you are so easy to frak with. Like I cant produce 20 links that backs both of those up. Genius you are not. Windows 7, there was much debate and I have head Paul state originally on his pod cast, more than a few times that it would NOT ship before 2010. Here is one from this site alone. http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/windows_7.asp Oh here is one from your circle jerk buddy Shark in this thread "So, the delta between Windows Vista and 7 is 3 years" Since consumers could get Vista in Jan 07 adding three years...I will do the math for you....Jan 2010. Maybe you should ask your buddy Sharky at the next meeting. Remember that blind thing. Snow Leopard never really had a solid date, Steve Jobs said at the 3G iPhone Launch "about a year from now", which was June of 2008, which would make it June of 2009...amazing how that works. Maybe the dont teach Math in that socialist country you live in. Maybe they think not everyone will get it so why make others (YOU) feel bad. Here is one site...with the old and new dates. http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/19303/20327/apple-snow-leop... Here are some sites you should try. www.rif.org www.google.com

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