Early adopters may face Windows 7 problems
Software giant Microsoft has already set a date for the first sales of Windows 7 and is expected to put its new operating system into production within a week. But for early adopters – those thousands of beta testers that have given valuable feedback – the move to the final release of Microsoft’s Windows 7 OS may not be plain sailing.
Although Microsoft has already said it will begin sales of its Windows 7 operating system on October 22, the next big step for the company is to select a final edition of the OS to send into production. This “release to manufacturing” (RTM) is a key part of the process and is now expected to be announced on July 13, the first day of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. It is usual for Microsoft to select its developer or partner conferences to announce significant progress such as this.
For MSDN and TechNet this means that they will in all likelihood be given access to the final code for Windows 7 on July 13. Other users will have to wait until October to get their hands on a final edition when general sales are opened.
Upgrade
Early adopters that are already running Windows 7 beta and release candidate versions will, however, find the upgrade from that system to the final release a little bumpy. That is because the Windows 7 upgrade will require a legitimate, paid-for copy of Windows on the machine already before the upgrade can happen. As CNet reports that means that a Windows 7 RC version does not count and that users will have to re-install Windows XP or Vista before upgrading to Windows 7 final.
Microsoft insists that this is no different to previous releases such as Vista but in this case one of the success stories of Windows 7 has been the extensive public beta testing programme conducted by Microsoft for Windows 7. Thanks to thousands of beta testers Microsoft has received valuable feedback on Windows 7 throughout its development. Now, however, many of those testers, who did a clean install will have to remove Windows 7 pre-releases before installing the final release.
Even so, Microsoft is trying to smooth the way for potential Windows 7 upgraders and has already made a beta of its Windows 7 upgrade advisor available to users. By using the upgrade advisor, users can test their machine for compatibility and conflicts ahead of purchasing a copy of Windows 7. The advisor will identify potential problems such as missing drivers and, where possible, point users to suggested fixes.
Big seller
Although Microsoft is yet to start official sales Windows 7 is proving a winner in pre-sales orders through online retailers such as Amazon.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade, which Amazon is selling at a 50% discount, has topped Amazon’s software best sellers list for the past two weeks. And Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade, also going for a 50% discount, is in second place.
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