Microsoft poised to make a Windows 7-fueled comeback
Microsoft and Mickey Rourke have more in common than you might think. Both went from being desirable to being painfully tolerated in an instant and both are now poised to make huge comeback. At this point we’re even giving slightly better odds to Windows 7 over The Wrestler, following the massive demand for Microsoft’s first publicly available 7 beta. Oh, and Windows install discs are made of plastic, just like Rourke. As announced by Ballmer during his keynote at CES, Redmond made Windows 7 available to the world yesterday, for free, but many have noticed that all download links have mysteriously disappeared from the 7 page. Did Microsoft change its mind? Of course not — it did hugely underestimate the demand for its upcoming OS however and the mass of PC users eager to check out the OS so many have been praising proved to be a bit too much for Microsoft’s servers to handle. Don’t worry folks, if you didn’t get there quickly enough to snag your copy of the ISO it should only be a short while now before it goes live again. Microsoft is working overtime beefing up the Microsoft.com infrastructure so it can handle the rush a bit more smoothly and once all of the Tetris blocks are in place, downloading can resume. Sure, it’s hard to say Microsoft is on the brink of a comeback since the company still owns over 89% of the computer OS market, but its Vista-scarred image will no doubt benefit from the homerun Windows 7 is hoping to hit.
Umm, i went to the site, but I do not see a link to download the beat windows 7, anyone have any idea where it is?
Really??!! Did you even read the article?
Dont bother downloading it. If you have Vista, it looks EXACTLY like it with a new theme. This is another switcheroo by M$ to make you think you’re getting something new, when it’s just a service pack update to Vista.
@btdown: You couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’ve been using Windows 7 for a little while now, and while the UI needs some love, the performance is outstanding.
Also, this is a BETA – the whole POINT is that it’s unfinished. And so what if it looks like Vista? Vista’s pretty.
Ervel Flick,
I totally agree with you. It is a lot like Vista but not exactly the same – Much better performance and a few nice UI improvements also!!
btdown, try something before you make a judgment and keep an open mind.
Yeah, btdown… the problem with Vista was never the look. The issues were with functionality.
Even though a lot of that has been improved, the OS is pretty much permanently tainted.
@btdown: Think, or at least do some research, before you post in a public forum and embarrass yourself. Windows 7 beta is far from a Vista service pack. It has been stable so far, very responsive, and in general has me stoked to get rid of Vista. Not that I hate Vista (I love it), but even the beta is running faster on my comp!
@btdown: You do realize there is more to an OS than the interface, right? This is an incremental update to Windows Vista that adds some decent functionality and addresses a lot of the concerns people had with Vista not running well on low-spec hardware. By keeping the same driver model there ought to be less of the driver-caused issues that plagued the original Vista release as well.
The vast majority of the software I use for work and entertainment runs on Windows so I am glad to see the steady progression on the OS front.
Now they just need to get off their ass with Mobile before I go back to Palm
Actually no smartass, because I went to the site several times yesterday and didn’t see any damn link. I just posted on here because I thought it might be in another spot. So thanks for your worthless response.
…
But if you had read the article you would have known that it isn’t in another spot. Change your nick, Twain was literate.
Uhhh, I think that’s MICKEY Rourke…
“‘Windows Vista is good, Windows 7 is Windows Vista with clean-up in user interface [and] improvements in performance,’ Ballmer said,” Keizer reports. “Ballmer also took exception to the idea that Windows 7 will be a minor release or a spit polish on Vista. ‘It’s a real release,’ he said.”
MS CEO admits 7 is Vista.
The link to upload is now up again.
I mean to download.
Been using Windows 7 for almost 24 hours now and while the UI is QUITE similar to Vista there are a few improvements:
1. Multi-core processors are finally used correctly in Windows 7. Run some tests and you’ll see.
2. Haven’t had one issue. Vista: an issue a day.
3. UAC rebuilt. Thank g*d! Not on by default is a darn good thing.
4. Sooooooo much faster than ANY version of Vista OR XP. No Start menu lag. Installations are 1/3 time of what I had for Vista Premium.
Still some issues but this is a Beta version:
1. Some installations which M$ says will work (AVG AV, a couple of Adobe products).
2. Drive emulation VERY wonky (Daemon Tools & MagicDrive)
3. IE 8 does not play well with all the tech blogs I like.
This is all I’ve found within 24 hours and if this is what to expect from Windows 7…I’m OK with it.
P.S. I’m no M$, Mac, or Linux fanboi. I know how to do my own research. I hold no allegiances.
5.
““‘Windows Vista is good, Windows 7 is Windows Vista with clean-up in user interface [and] improvements in performance,’ Ballmer said,” Keizer reports. “Ballmer also took exception to the idea that Windows 7 will be a minor release or a spit polish on Vista. ‘It’s a real release,’ he said.”
MS CEO admits 7 is Vista.”
You quote actually invalidates your claim. Did you read the part where it said the Ballmer too exception to the idea that Windows 7 is a minor release or a spit polish of Vista. An exception as in he is objecting to that noting. The first part you are just using to twist to your own needs. They are not saying that Windows 7 IS Windows Vista, but rather building upon the Vista frame work to bring you a better OS.
Vista had a bad start, but it isn’t a horrible OS like ME was. It does leave a little to be desired as far as performance. Sadly (or not sadly depending you thoughts on it), Vista won’t be around much longer. Windows 7 really seems to be the real deal as far as an OS, picking up where Vista left off and fixing the issues and even enhancing them.
Microsoft should just have released this thing via torrents and only had 2.5 million unique keys. Would make everything much easier.
Problems for Windows 7 will be compatibility, drivers and older hardware. If it does not do better than Vista did it will not be Windows “Fixa” it will fail as fast as Vista did. Simplifying upgrades, version is important. We will see. Let’s face it is will be hard to top Vista for failure.
@Kevin
It isn’t too late. Since I can’t get the DL to stay active, I was actually going to start looking for torrents of it.
@Paul: How many places are you going to post that stupid “Fixa” joke? Compatibility and drivers were the issue with Vista at launch because it had a new driver model and there were a ton of buggy drivers out originally. Today all the major manufacturers have written good drivers and stability improved with them. Win7 keeps the Vista driver model so there should be much less in the way of driver issues. On my beta machine, all Vista drivers worked perfectly and the system is very stable.
I get the feeling that you are Paul Chapel from engadget as your FUD trolling has the same ring of deliberate ignorance.
1) http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/01/09/direct-download-links-for-windows-7-beta-iso-surface/
2) http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/01/11/how-to-get-windows-7-beta-activation-key/
3) ???????????
4) Profit?
Here’s the download links…
32 bit
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso
64 bit
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO
Here’s how to get a key…
1. Visit TechNet Downloads, sign in at the top right and let the page load
2. Within the same window copy and paste “https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/scripts/gcs.aspx?Product=tn-win7-64-ww&LCID=1033″ into the address bar or “https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/scripts/gcs.aspx?Product=tn-win7-32-ww&LCID=1033″ (64bit key but will work on 32 too, if you get an error refresh a few times)…enjoy the result below (32 bit link seems to work better), whilst stocks last. If you are still having issues try clearing your temp files and deleting all cookies.
so i can just download this beta and it wont mess with Vista that’s already on my PC right?
Typing this from a Windows 7 install….love it…so simple and intuitive…I especially love the taskbar the the way one can arrange windows anyway they like. MS definitely did it right this time.
Installed tonight on my testing laptop that was running Vista. So far no major problems. Running faster and smoother than Vista and yes, though the GUI is similar, the OS seems to be going down the right road and the improvements are significant.