Helmers Blog

If you still weren’t able to upgrade or install the Windows 7 Release Candidate, you still have until August 15 to download it. So you have plenty of time, can even enjoy a long vacation before you start upgrading .

Still using Windows 7 Beta? You have 7 days left to upgrade to Windows 7 Release Candidate before your pc starts to reboot every two hours!

If you are still running the beta version of Windows 7 you should start getting your upgrade plan ready. So you can at least upgrade (or reinstall) your machine before July 1st. This will be the date that your pc start rebooting every 2 hours, until August 1st. At August 1st you’re unable to use your Windows 7 Beta….

So please upgrade to the Release Candidate version of Windows 7 and enjoy the fast, reliable and good looking operating system until the RTM will become available (in just a month or so).

Today is the day that the Windows Updates system for Windows 7 is being tested. I ran into this nice announcement about it on the Microsoft TechNet Forums :

Starting on February 24th we will be offering some test updates to Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) computers. We do typically verify update scenarios during a Beta, and releasing these test updates will help ensure that when we need to release real updates, the process will run smoothly. There will be at most five updates. These updates test the Windows 7 servicing infrastructure. They will not deliver any new features or fixes.

The updates will be offered interactively. This means that users will be notified of available updates, but they won’t install automatically. Users will need to go to the Windows Update control panel and manually start installation. They will also be clearly titled as a test update. If you don’t want to install the updates then you can right click on each update and select “Hide update” to prevent it from being shown in the list of available updates.

MU Team

So just to be sure : If you’re running Windows 7 Beta and you’ll see several updates coming up, they won’t install anything…it’s just a test!

The German online magazine WinFuture (translated to English) published an article in in which they say that the planned release date for the Windows 7 Release Candidate should be February 27th, so that’s just a week away!

And this time also MSDN and TechNet users will be the first to download the Windows 7 RC. Too bad I’m on a business trip abroad next week, but when I’m home (on Friday, 27th) I hope I’ll be able to download the RC!

I’m not sure if the date is entirely correct, but if they want to release Windows 7 before Christmas 2009 they should at least release the RC in the next few months!

Update : The build where WinFuture was talking is not going to be the RC build.

The 10th of February…..besides it’s my birthday , it’s the day that Microsoft pulls the Windows 7 Public Beta offline! So if you didn’t downloaded the ISO already….DO IT NOW!

Or at least start the download in the next few hours, you have till February 12th to finalize the download. Don’t forget to get your (legal) key (you can even get your key after February 12th)!

Check out the schedule below to see when what happens: Source : WindowsTeamBlog

• Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.
• February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.
• February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

Product keys for the Windows 7 Beta will continue to be available. So if you have the Windows 7 Beta but didn’t get a product key you will be able to do so even after February 12th.