Quote:
Originally Posted by the baker at jury lane
Hi
i really wanted to try windows 7
But i have questions:
What it the one you can get from the Microsoft.com website?beta?Rc?
Whats the difference between these? (RC,BETA etc)
What is in the BETA or whatever you get from the Microsoft website to the normal retail edition of windows 7 ultimate?
What features do i miss with the download from the website (the free trial) to windows 7 ultimate?
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Beta=Early version(s) of a product.
RC..=Release Candidate - Meaning it's a "Candidate" to the final product-*
RTM=Released to Manufacturing = The final product.
*RC's will be slightly different than the RTM version. RC is a "Release Canidate". What features are missing, or different? There are bound to be small differences from the RC to the final build- Short version is don't worry about it, Just download the RC and try it out...
What build / version is the "Release Canidate" that Microsoft is allowing to be downloaded?
Windows 7 RC 7100 Windows 7 "Ultimate" is the official RC.
Windows 7 RC 7100 download link:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win.../download.aspx
Downloads will be available until
August 20, 2009. After that (if you've already downloaded the ISO), you can still install the RC and you can get a (FREE RC) product key if you need /lose your key.
This means:
A: You should
download the ISO BEFORE Aug-20-2009
B: You can install the RC at any time between now and June 1, 2010.
C: That if you lose or misplace your RC KEY- between now and June 1, 2010 you "should" be able to get another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the baker at jury lane
If i get the RC and i like it will i be able to purchase a key?
and not have to reinstall it?
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You cannot buy a RC key, nor can you buy a upgrade key to upgrade the RC to the retail product.)
RC and RTM Keys are DIFFERENT.
RTM's are restricted to those persons who have a MSDN / Technet account, and OEM's- they are not available to the general public.
(If someone has such a account and would like to PM me some "info" by all means do so.)
Quote:
Will I be able to purchase a (retail?) key? and not have to reinstall?-
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If you install RC 7100, officially there is no upgrade path- Meaning you'd have to re-install everything.
(There is no way to convert the RC to the RTM version by purchasing a key- or typing in a secret code..)
Quote:
Direct from Microsoft:
Remember expiration dates: Please plan ahead for the Beta and RC expiration dates. To avoid interruption, you'll need to rebuild your test machine using a valid version of Windows before the software expires. Windows will notify you that the expiration process is beginning and two weeks later your PC will begin shutting down every two hours.
The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns will begin on March 1, 2010 (to prod you into buying the retail product). In both cases, you'll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS and reinstall all your programs and data.
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Tip: #1 Once you create a account, access the download page it will give you a key, to generate another key (each key is good for (3) installs?) go back and forth a few times to generate a spare key, or two.
Tip #2, If installing in a Dual boot configuration, with both OS's on the same hard drive... re-size the current OS partition to gain about *30-40gb of
"Free" disk space.... Once you create 30-40gb of free space- Reboot with Win 7 RC 7100 disc in drive, select advanced, and then point installer to the "free-space", and then click the next button... Installer will run and in about 20-25 minutes you'll have a XP/Vista & Win 7 Rc 7100 Dual boot...
*RC 7100 will install to a 10gb hard drive
* Creating a "Free-Space" allows the installer to create the needed partition(s), One about 100mb ins size for Bitlocker, the other will be for the OS.
Tip #3= I think I read that you can boot with the Win 7 RC 7100 boot disc- and then select the repair option- and somewhere in there are options to "shrink", resize a existing OS partition... Useful if you're running XP and have no partitioning software.
Tip #4 = Before installing a OS you should throughly test your hardware (espeically if it's "new".), remember that "new" doesn't mean "good". Test your hard drive for errors, run stress testing tools to verify your hardware is good.
Tip #5 Partitioning software, Hardware "Stress" testing software:
Google Hiren's Boot CD for your "Toolbox"- (has allot of stuff on it-) NOTE: If you find any of the software useful on the CD, Support the authors of those programs by buying those programs!!) Side note on the CD- you may want to download several versions of the disc as the programs change from release to release. ( ie ver 7.3 may have a app that's not on 9.3...) Creator of disc due to space constraints (or legal issues) deleting apps from the distribution.
Another disk partitioning app:
Gnome Partition Editor
The GParted application is the GNOME partition editor for creating, reorganizing, and deleting disk partitions.
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
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