Get your hands on Windows 7 Beta

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Hope everyone had a great break over the holidays.  Its nice to come back to some great news such as the availability of Windows 7 Beta!  The Beta was announced by Steve Ballmer at CES last week.  It was initially available to TechNet Plus and MSDN Subscribers but it is now available to download for everyone.  Performance, reliability, security, and compatibility are core tenets of this release as we collect your feedback to meet our engineering goals of making Windows 7 the best-performing and most stable Windows operating system to date.  You can also learn about What’s New about Windows 7 at the official site.


The new Desktop - amazing

I have installed Windows 7 on 3 different machines and have to say I am really impressed with it.  You will definitely notice the speed improvements.  Startup and Shutdown times have been drastically improved.  One of the first things you should do is install the new Windows Live Essentials software which include things like Messenger, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Mail and other Windows Live services.


Windows Taskbar Previews – easier way to see what’s open, this has really grown on me

Here are some videos that give a good run down of the new OS
Windows 7 – The Experience
Windows 7 – Touch
Windows 7 – HomeGroup
Windows 7 – Device Stage


Jump Lists – Handy way to get to files you have already been working on

The TechNet Springboard site has some excellent resources for IT Professionals
Windows 7 – A First Look for IT Pros
Windows 7 – Feature Walkthroughs includes videos on Deployment Image Servicing and Management, AppLocker, Enterprise Application Compatibility, Problem Steps Recorder, BitLocker and BitLocker to Go and Windows PowerShell 2.0
Windows 7 TechNet Forums


Libraries – New way to see your media in Explorer view

Something which was a nice surprise is the new Media Center experience in Windows 7.  Check out Ben Reed from Microsoft doing the demo.  You will also notice the new multi-touch capabilities in Windows 7 in this video.

 

Stay tuned for more info about Windows 7!