Recently, Microsoft announced that users would be able to download the public beta release of its new operating system, Windows 7, through February 10. The beta operating system installation file is available for download on Microsoft’s website at no charge.
The recent announcement from the Redmond giant certainly cheered up the entire computer geek community, as the company had initially limited the overall number of downloads to 2.5 million. Later in the following week of the release of Windows 7 Beta, Microsoft pushed the deadline to January 24.
Actually, the demand for the new OS was so high, that Microsoft’s servers that hosted the Windows 7 installation file even hung up during the first few days from the release, on January 10.
The demand went even higher when Microsoft prolonged the time limit for its beta operating system download for the first time, turning Windows 7 into the new shining star of the OS market, even though it is still in its development stage.
However, it is worth mentioning that all validation keys that were received along with the operating system will be still available after February 10, as the deadline only refers at the download availability of Windows 7 through Microsoft’s servers.
Nonetheless, as Windows 7 has already become a popular product, it is likely that the installation files will be available through Bit Torrent sites, even after Microsoft will withdraw it from its website. On the other hand, the operating system will be functional just for a limited period, meaning that on August 1, 2009, it will automatically uninstall itself.
Windows 7 is expected to become the first successful iteration after XP, as Microsoft hopes that users will soon forget about the endless compatibility issues and the rather mediocre performance that Windows Vista had during its lifespan since 2007.
The new operating system promises to bring along some new features but essentially, so it might just as well be considered a much-improved version of Vista, as the two products share several features, mostly concerning the graphical user interface.
One of the much-praised features of Windows 7 is the Superbar, which is in fact an updated and feature-rich taskbar. As an example, a right-click on a Word window on the taskbar displays a list with recent documents for instant access and hovering the cursor over a group reveals thumbnails of all windows in that group. Thumbnails also contain a close button for each window.
However, the most welcomed update of Windows 7 was the integration of HomeGroups in the networking and sharing interface. HomeGroups makes it easy to pair computers and other devices into a network where users can seamlessly share documents and especially media content. This means that there will be no troubles when setting a home network, which used to happen on a regular basis, even to more experienced users.
