Microsoft: No Additional Windows 7 Public Betas
The public release of Windows 7 beta is undoubtedly the most exciting thing to happen to PC users so far this year. But it’s only going to happen once, as Microsoft says that it’ll be the only public beta we’ll get.
Those who are enjoying the Windows 7 beta will have to stick with it until the final version ships, as the public beta released in early January will be the first and last of the public betas for the OS.
That it’s necessarily bad news, however, as the next major milestone for Microsoft will be a release candidate (RC) version, which means that a final release will be just beyond that.
Microsoft developer “Steven” wrote on the MSDN blog, “The next milestone for the development of Windows 7 is the Release Candidate or ‘RC.’ Historically the Release Candidate has signaled ‘we’re pretty close and we want people to start testing the release, especially because all the features are done.’”
While both the beta and release candidate are just unfinished, pre-release version of software, there is a clear distinction. Microsoft released the beta “to validate the quality, reliability, compatibility, and experience of Windows 7.”
The release candidate, on the other hand, will be Windows 7 as Microsoft intends to ship it. “This release allows the whole ecosystem to reach a known state together and make sure that we are all ready together for the Release to Manufacturing. Once we get to RC, the whole ecosystem is in ‘dress rehearsal’ mode for the next steps,” Steven detailed.
Now for the question everyone’s been waiting for, but probably not the answer we want: “The obvious question is that we know the Pre-Beta was October 28, 2008, and the Beta was January 7th, so when is the Release Candidate and RTM? The answer is forthcoming,” -- in other words, there is no answer.
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“Believe me, we know many people want to know more specifics,” it acknowledged. “We’re on a good path and we’re making progress. We are taking a quality-based approach to completing the product and won’t be driven by imposed deadlines.”
As much as we’re all fans of a new and improved Windows, we’re even bigger fans of things that are finished and polished. The last thing we need is a rushed operating system that will eventually become the most popular on the planet, despite what some eager fan may be petitioning.
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tayb Ah yes. No official public betas. There will be leaks of RC all over the internet and the torrent sites just like the earlier builds of 7 were.Reply -
kewl munky Meh. Last time I tried the Windows 7 drive for my 900GX2 still doesn't work. I tried uninstalling that driver in safe mode and downloading the one for vista that is supposed to work as well, but of course with Windows "supposed to" means there is a 50/50 chance.Reply -
tayb Kewl MunkyMeh. Last time I tried the Windows 7 drive for my 900GX2 still doesn't work. I tried uninstalling that driver in safe mode and downloading the one for vista that is supposed to work as well, but of course with Windows "supposed to" means there is a 50/50 chance.Reply
Yeah. Microsoft should be more active in writing drivers for other companies hardware products. Oh wait, that isn't their job. -
so,most likely okt28 pre-beta, jan 7 Beta, March24-31 RC, June 23 official release?Reply
There's about a 6month timegap, between the beta release,and the projected release date.... -
tenor77 I don't want to see 7 rushed, but I would like the opportunity to be able to purchase a license for it now and run the beta on my other computer till it is released. Doesn't MS want my money now?Reply -
joemess If you understood what a moving target writing drivers are for a beta OS, you wouldn't be so glib. I have personally wasted thousands of hours while MS teams got their act together. Driver stacks have changed post RC candidates! MS' bottom up approach to specing releases is crap.Reply -
jsloan damn them. that's not very nice, i would have liked to try the newer betas, i got the last one up and running, personally i like some of the changes, but i dont' like its like windows vista all over again...Reply -
kewl munky taybYeah. Microsoft should be more active in writing drivers for other companies hardware products. Oh wait, that isn't their job.Reply
It's not the fact that Microsoft needs to make a driver, it's the fact that the nvidia driver download recognizes it as windows 7 and continues to download because it "should" would with it since there is no kernel difference between windows vista and 7. The only real difference is that 7 fixes most issues, and has a more polished look.
When you buy an upgrade to windows 7 from vista, you will be paying Microsoft for what could and should be a service pack.