Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 26 January 2009 17:18
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Still want to try out the Windows 7 beta OS, but haven’t downloaded it
yet? Microsoft has extended the download period from late January until
February 10 for the public, although the cut-off date doesn’t apply to
MSDN and TechNet members. Is the download extension any cause for
controversy?
Microsoft has announced at its
Windows Team Blog that public downloads of Windows 7 beta 1 are set to continue for an extra couple of weeks until Feb 10, but as with virtually any move Microsoft makes, there’s a bit of controversy.
TechRadar
asks whether this is because Microsoft’s target of 2.5m downloads hasn’t been reached yet, and presumes that this is very likely the case, but it could well be the opposite – strong demand that Microsoft doesn’t yet want to stop.
The beta has been very well received by the public, the pundits and the press, after all, and it’s a good opportunity to give the people something they do seem to want!
And if TechRadar and others are right, and Microsoft hasn’t reached its 2.5m download target yet, then extending the beta by an extra couple of weeks will certainly help, even though MSDN and TechNet users will still be able to download the beta to their heart’s content.
With a “release candidate” (RC) said to be due in April, downloads should start within 12 weeks of that Feb 10 cutoff date again anyway, with an RC version of Windows 7 sure get the tech world hammering Microsoft’s servers all over again.
Preston Gralla at ComputerWorld
thinks Windows 7 might be Microsoft’s last “big bang” operating system, with a modularised, componentised OS to come in the future, one that’s very thin and light with free and paid modules that can be downloaded and added in as desired.
But all of that is in the future – we need to get to the RTM (release to manufacturing), final version of Windows 7 first, which lays the foundation for Gralla’s componentised dreams to come true with Windows 8 or whatever Microsoft decides to call it.
Continued on page 2, please read on!
