2 more days of Windows 7

Have you gotten hold of the Windows 7 beta yet? If not, the beta is open to everyone until the 24th of Jan, that’s in 2 days time! Just head to the Windows 7 beta site and follow the instructions to get the download and get a key.

The blogosphere is reporting that Windows 7 is an excellent Operating System, and the beta is very stable. Of note: if you have a Netbook, install the beta on there to replace XP, it is more secure and you can even run Aero on the small Intel GMA950 chip that exists in most Netbooks.

If you have a netbook, or even just a widescreen monitor, Windows 7 is great. Finally the taskbar has been designed with widescreen users in mind. Make the most of the screen width by placing your taskbar on the left or right side of the monitor, and it works wonderfully.

Don’t forget to also grab the latest Windows Live Essentials, which includes everything you need to work with the Windows Live services.

Application compatibility is of course one of the big questions with this new version of Windows, and I am happy to say that there is an extremely high chance that if your application worked with Vista, then it will work with Windows 7. Some applications, primarily those that install drivers, may have some issues, however this is rare as even drivers for Windows Vista work fine with Windows 7.

I have only had two applications have issues so far:

• Daemon Tools – Fails to install the SPTD drivers, however Virtual CloneDrive does work
• Skype reports an incompatibility, however I have had no issues with the latest Skype beta

There are also reports that the anti-cheating service Punkbuster has an issue with Windows 7 and will kick players from some games that use it. Hopefully Punkbuster updates to support Windows 7 soon.

For a slightly more thorough review of Windows 7, check out a fellow MSP’s blog: The League of Paul for more information, or head to Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows for even more information (and the excellent Windows Weekly Netcast with Paul Thurott and Leo Laporte).

-Michael Quandt