Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 06 December 2008 06:18
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
It has been claimed that an attendee at the Chinese WinHEC conference
has managed to leak a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) image of the previously
unreleased Windows 7 6956 build to torrent sites on the Internet. Some
have claimed success in downloading the file and running as a VHD,
others claim no success and say that “Chinese hackers” are trying to
convert the VHD into an installable ISO instead.
Windows 7 hype and mania continues building towards the official January 13 release of the first Windows 7 beta, the long-awaited version the public will be able to download and trial for themselves.
Update: a link to detailed VHD installation instructions is on page 3.
Update 2: a new story on the VHD being successfully converted to an ISO is now on page 3.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to showcase this version at the January 7
pre-CES keynote that he has taken over from Bill Gates, who has now semi-retired from Microsoft to focus on his Bill and Melinda Gates foundation instead, thus making the Windows 7 beta the latest chance for Ballmer to practice his monkey dance skills in front of the world.
With the Windows 7 6801 pre-beta build widely available online and downloaded by many, the wait for the beta is proving a torturous wait, and any news of a fresh leak a later Windows 7 build has been highly anticipated.
Windows 7 6801 has had a few tweaks of its own, with Rafael Rivera from the “Within Windows” blog having crafted his “
Blue Badge” tool to “unlock” an unfinished version of the new “super taskbar”, desktop slideshow and other features.
Newer Windows 7 builds have these “new” features reportedly working properly, and are likely to have more polished and even faster code than 6801 delivers.
Indeed, those that have claimed to be successfully running the 6956 build say it is faster, but without any proof these are unsubstantiated claims thus far.
The Windows7Center.com site is where I first read of the
6956 build leaking to the Internet.
The site says: “The impossible has been done again and pirates all over the world are busy trying to obtain the more updated build of Windows 7- build 6956.
“Just a day after WinHEC China began, an attendee from the conference managed to slip a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) image of Windows 7 Build 6956 onto a portable device and upload it via torrent to the world.
“You’d think that Microsoft would have some sort of security enforced to keep this from happening after how hard they’ve been trying to prevent any leaks. The uploader from the PCBeta forum uses the alias Edward_Han, and is seen by the Chinese Windows community as a hero. The community has been referring to him as Edward_Han the hero, and even Master Edward_Han.”
More on the Windows 7 6956 leak fiasco and a link to screenshots is on page 2, please read on!
