First Windows 7 Public Beta Leaks Early Comments

I downloaded it and installed it on some 5 year old hardware that was hiding in the attic (AMD proc, 1GB RAM, and an ATI 3450 to make it work as the old graphics card was broken), and have to say it's decidedly snappy. Considering the hardware I'm running it on boot up time was very fast (30-40 secs) and everything was smooth and quick to start.

Windows 7 should be given free to all Vista Ultimate owners, OEM and retail, for compensation for the lack of extras that were promised.

I love my Vista install, but I keep getting the nagging feeling I was sold something which is only likely to be released in 2009 - I don't really want to pay twice.

... Quick previews, program 'jump lists' and a new taskbar which allows you to keep preferred Apps docked in it for quick launch?

You're all smart enough to know where I'm going with this so I'll not point out the obvious ;) hehehe

Thanks for sharing, I am excited now!

'reports are already filing back that it is the most stable initial public beta the company has ever produced' - It should be. ITS VISTA SP3!!

'I think there is a slow consensus building' - tech review sites lost any credibility they had long ago. We were spoon fed for months how wonderful Vista was before it was released. A year later they were all moaning about how terrible it was. And it is. Microsoft have been dishing out Windows 7 installed on free brand new laptops to all and sundry 'to test' and lo and behold 'a concensus' is starting to build.

Even more depressing are the people who having been fleeced by buying Vista will flock like sheep to buy 'improved' Windows 7 which still sucks compared to XP. Microsoft must be laughing themselves silly.

I've tested M1, M3 (both 6801 and 6956) and now Beta 1 and it's a nice improvement of Vista. I warmly recommend it. It's very stable even if in beta. About the 30 days to activate: you can use "rearm" to get 120 days ;)

only 120 days? i want to keep it for ever... bah, i'll probably hold off until it comes out properly ;)

I took the plunge and I am now running it as my main OS on my laptop, altho it is only the intial 30 day trial version. It will be hard to go back to Vista if the public beta keys are not published shortly.

A clean Installation was a breeze, 20 minute un-attended install and magicly everything worked. Performance is deffinently good, but, I am on a clean install so only time will tell.

I do like the overhaul of the start menu which it kinda looks and operates a bit like the Mac bar which isnt a bad thing.

Overall it is a solid beta and looks extreemly promising. I wonder what SP3 for Vista is going to be like compared to Windows 7?