There is a lot of hoopla going on in the blogosphere about Windows 7. Discussion at my friend’s (Stratos) blog made me think about this. Is downloading & installing Windows7 worth all the pain?
Microsoft made an announcement that they will be giving out 2.5 million copies of Windows 7 beta for free on January 9th 2009. As predicted by many, Microsoft servers failed to scale up to the demand and went down. Many users like Vikas faced an agony of waiting for download to complete. To be a bit fair with Microsoft, they have a standard disclaimer put up -
Windows 7 beta is meant only for advanced computer users who are willing and able to look for bugs and help provide feedback on any issues that arise. Microsoft recommends you use it only on a secondary computer dedicated to testing the software. There is also no direct technical support available, and you may encounter some compatibility issues with older hardware and software.
Well, Is it worth the pain then?
I will not force my views here. I will just share some articles across the blogosphere which might help you to decide for yourself -
Windows 7’s Best Features — LifeHacker
Get to know the best features (if any!) of Windows 7 OS from one of the top tech bloggers – Gina Tripani. She also tells how to get them within Windows XP or Vista using a combination of settings tweaks and third-party apps!
Windows 7 Public Beta: First Impressions — PC World
First hand reporting from PC World about the pros & cons of Windows 7 beta OS.
Reason’s to Skip Microsoft’s Windows 7 Beta Download — ZDNet
A very unbiased (just like me 
) view on Windows 7 beta. On a serious note, I agree with most of the things Sam has to say.
Over to you guys
Tell me what you think. Are you going to try it out? or have you already installed it? What is the experience like? Do you think “All Pain and No Gain”? or “The Gain is worth the pain”? Lets discuss.
well as i said i’ll wait for the final product before considering to check it out
btw thanks for mentioning…
I upgraded Thursday night…very little pain, very much gain.
@Clif
But non-geeks need to be careful and read the disclaimer properly before installing!
am not surprised at all
I tried to upgrade from Vista x64 to 7 x64 yesterday.
The first attempt resulted in some sort of stuck drive access sequence, so I rolled-back.
The second attempt almost worked but got stuck near the end failing to update the registry.
I’ve again rolled-back but by default it’s now booting to a 7 screen that says the upgrade failed (I can manually select Vista tho at the boot manager).
My next attempt will be to do a ‘fresh’ install. That might work as it won’t have to deal with importing (or whatever) my existing registry but if not I’ll just reinstall Vista, which is relatively painless.
@Chris,
This is exactly why there is a disclaimer. But even for a beta version, upgradation part must be flawless. Its a pity that they still have bugs in that.
@Raju,
Yes I’m aware of this and I’m very geeky.
I was just posting my experience as a balance as there was not much comment (anywhere) other than it is flawless at the time.
I found a posting elsewhere from someone who had a similar experience and after a failed upgrade it did install fresh for him ok.
So I’m just waiting until I’ve got time to install the beta plus reinstall Vista in the event that it doesn’t work.
Just to add to this: I tried a ‘clean’ install of Win7 and it still failed at the same point.
The most intelligent comment I can find is “The difference appears to be the loader. Windows 7 (and Server 2008 R2) uses a virtual-friendlier loader, while Vista uses an earlier version loader.”
I’m not quite sure what to make of that. I may try updating my BIOS flash, as I have a fairly old mobo/bios (as in Vista ready), but in the mean time I’ve just reinstalled Vista x64.
@Chris,
it must be some hardware limitation.
or else, Did you try re-downloading the beta installable? Do let us know if you manage to debug this.