Windows 7 download rush
A virtual queue formed on the Internet in the hours before the planned release of Windows 7 "beta" software at noon local time in Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington State.
"There was a line of people waiting online, so the noon release became an about-noon release," said a Microsoft spokesperson showing off the company’s latest innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
A flood of requests slowed Microsoft industrial-strength computers, causing delays and disappointments.
The window for downloading the test-version of Windows 7 closes the last day of January, Microsoft said.
The software giant wants feedback from users to refine the new operating system, but doesn’t plan to change or add features.
"We got ourselves in a little trouble with Windows Vista; it became a bag of mixed things and didn’t really figure out what it was about," said Mike Ybarra, general manager of Windows products at Microsoft.
"There was a lot of feature creep. You had people saying ‘Let’s change this and that.’ Windows 7 has been very disciplined."
Analyst Michael Cherry of private firm Directions On Microsoft says he is impressed with the way the software giant "kept its enthusiasm under control".
Microsoft improved the Vista operating system while making sure it is "backward compatible," essentially that it will work with older software.
Vista was such an advance over Windows XP that it clashed with software people already used and previous generation computers.
"Microsoft is making the kind of evolutionary changes they need without the revolutionary changes that break things," Cherry said.
Microsoft has been secretive about when a finished version of Windows 7 will be ready.
Windows 7 will streamline everyday tasks, cut boot-up times, extend battery life and make it simple to weave "smart" devices into home networks, according to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.
Windows 7 also lets users customize a "ribbon" panel at the base of a computer screen with icons for programs and files they want to quickly access.
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