Windows 7 Preview

[Neophyte]

I'm just curious if anyone has installed Windows 7 Beta on a computer yet?

I found the ISO from TPB and installed it in a new partition. I don't have a
license code yet, but can still test it for 30-days (Windows default Activation
Period) without a code.

The install went really well. Just one small glitch with my RAID driver - it let
me pick a 64-bit driver but it needed a 32-bit for this OS.

It doesn't have a chipset driver for my motherboard (Intel X38). So I have
one icon with the yellow question mark on it, in Device Manager. My memory
performance is taking a hit under the Windows Experience because of that.
Windows Experience actually shows a few devices above the 5.9 which I
thought was the high limit under Vista. All other drivers for this computer were
automatically detected and installed by Setup.

I have not looked at all the features yet. The most apparent feature is that
underlying performance has been improved above Windows XP while keeping
the security that Vista adopted. This is a perfect blend. UAC is toned down.

The "Quick launch" toolbar is missing and a new Pin'ed icon represents
programs in the Taskbar. When you hover over the icon you can see any
running tasks associated with the program. Far to the right, and to the right
of the clock is a glassy looking button, that's the "Show Desktop" button. MS
Paint has the new "Ribbon" interface that Office 2007 adopted. Internet
Explorer 8 comes with this system and seems to work pretty well.

Other than the need to update 3rd party drivers, I can't find anything work
with Windows 7. It looks really nice, runs like LT. (of the San Diego Chargers,
yeah, he's fast!) Hey, it's playoff season - can you tell?!

Screen shot:

[KrAzYdAvE]

I <3 the Quick Launch...
That might take some getting used to on my part.
Is it just me, or is that taskbar huge?

[Ender[CotC]]

this seems to be the left side of a larger picture.

it definitely looks like windows has tried adapting more of the Mac's "look" with the way the bar is set up at the bottom

[Neophyte]

this seems to be the left side of a larger picture.

it definitely looks like windows has tried adapting more of the Mac's "look" with the way the bar is set up at the bottom

It's my widescreen monitor, and it's native resolution - you might want to scroll your browser window to see the whole picture.

Windows 7 is rather Mac looking! I can see the similarities and want to call the Taskbar a Dock. Not including the Start Menu, the first three icons, (Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, and Windows Media Player) are the only ones "pined" to the Task Bar. The other icons are running programs that I've launched. In the screenshot above, you'll notice some icon's with a box object around them, and others appear to be in a Stack. (To borrow a word from OS-X Leopard.) Those stacked items are the ones with multiple windows open. My mouse pointer didn't get captured in the screen shot, but it's pointing at the IE icon, so you can see what it looks like when you click on a stack and uncover the multiple windows. Another interesting effect happens when you download items in Internet Explorer; the pinned icon reflects the download progress by filling up with green light from left to right. Windows Defender once needed an update and it triggered the UAC to ask me for the rights to upgrade. I didn't notice it right away and the dialog box pooped under the program that I was using. It called for attention by pulsing the icon with yellow light. This is a rather clever interface!

I <3 the Quick Launch...
That might take some getting used to on my part.
Is it just me, or is that taskbar huge?

The Taskbar is huge! It's probably a double height bar because of the large icons. This is the default setting for the Taskbar. I'll look to see if there are any other settings for it's appearance. I should screen cap the MS Paint window for you - it's crazy how much it's changed! The File/Save icon is way up on the Title Bar.

[Ender[CotC]]

this seems to be the left side of a larger picture.

it definitely looks like windows has tried adapting more of the Mac's "look" with the way the bar is set up at the bottom

It's my widescreen monitor, and it's native resolution - you might want to scroll your browser window to see the whole picture.

my screen isn't big enough to see it all.