Windows 7: the hype starts now
You always assume that it won't be long until very early builds of Microsoft's forthcoming operating systems find their way onto the internet. We just didn't think it would be so soon with Windows 7, particularly considering that Windows Vista's Service Pack 1 hasn't yet landed.
Nonetheless, a user of Neowin's forums going by the name of "kenipnet" claims to have installed "Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6.1.6519.1" on desktop and laptop machines. Unfortunately, there's no way for us to know if kenipnet actually has used the early build of Windows 7 or if it's just a wild goose chase. Judging by his comments however, I'm inclined to think this one could be true as it's generally in tune with what the build is said to contain.
Without further a-do, here is the first un-official, and possibly fictional, review of Windows 7 Build 6.1.6519.1:
"Over the weekend I finally managed to play with the build…. but disappointed.
One my primary machine, it asked for my SATA driver (never happened when installing Vista, as my drives were set as IDE in BIOS). After adding the driver from my USB thumb drive it would finally install. It didn’t boot after first restart, however.
On my laptop it installed perfectly, but with no driver support for the video card. After numerous tries I gave up in the end, so Aero is now left in the dark.
Oh well, so there’s nothing to show.
The build is 6.1.6519.
The GUI, as much of you have guessed, is very much like Vista. I don’t know if once the right video card driver is in place whether there will be flashy stuffs to surprise me. The system is very responsive, using barely 480MB of memory after boot.
Gadgets are now integrated into explorer. You can right click on desktop and select “Add Gadget” or “Hide Gadget”. There is a new gadget called “Windows Media Center” that displays now playing information from the WMC. On the same menu, “Display” is added above “Personalisation” which gives you direct access to display DPI settings. The page is much more polished than the one in Vista.
The start menu features a pin besides each item. Clicking on it toggles pinning/unpinning the item. Search in explorer is now states where you search within (usually being within the folder, as in Vista). You can now, however, adjust the size of the search box.
XAML fonts, called the “Composite Fonts” are now added to the font folder. Perhaps WPF will be much more prominent in this release. It’s disappointing that I don’t have Aero running, or otherwise there might be some interesting stuffs to see.
A new application is added, dubbed the “XPS Viewer”, no surprises, either.
Then finally, something interesting came up: the feedback tool. The feedback tool lists the “pillars” of Win 7. You can see that Microsoft is aiming to fine tune this release as the case in XP rather than technological advancement as in 2K. highlights include”network aware”, with improved connection tools and detections. It will have the ability to detect which network you’re in and switch your settings and devices accordingly; With Live account, you can carry your IE settings and favorites with you; Gadget data caching; New Calculator, Paint, and Wordpad using WPF; install to desktop in 10 mins with only 1 reboot; instant streaming; better battery mileage, etc. All descriptions are scenario-based, so what will actually turn up is still yet to know.
Oh.. how could I miss this. A new boot screen does show up, finally. A full screen Vista-logon screen like boot screen with a beam scrolling across the whole screen near the bottom. Looks nice but reminds me of Win9x (well since XP we’ve been in the “dark”, so surprised to see such a bright boot screen)!"
Certainly sounds rather interesting. There are few things more entertaining than playing with a new Windows OS and discovering what has changed. If Windows 7 is set to include a new Calculator, new Paint and new Wordpad, we're in for one rollercoaster ride!
On a more serious note, if the review is indeed legitimate, it's no surprise that Microsoft will be further embedding its Live services into its forthcoming Windows 7, a logical and welcomed approach.
