Wow – it seems like much longer than just 9 days ago that Windows 7 Beta 1 was made available to the masses. Well kind of available – there was that server snag that Microsoft had to deal with. Who would have imagined the demand for Beta 1 of Windows 7. So much demand that Microsoft has made it available until 24 January to make sure everyone gets a chance to download it – even more availability for the mad demand Windows 7 is drawing. Just 6 days left in that download period by the way – go and get yours now if you haven’t done so.
The flow of Twitter tweets containing the term Windows and 7 have slowed considerably compared to those first few days. Based on a rough count of the last hour – about 95 tweets have contained those terms. Steady.
I am also amazed at the number of folks who use Mac’s that are trying this out. There are in fact a couple professing their affection for the beta operating system. One even went as far to say they were seriously considering whether to stay with OS X.
However, most of the Mac users I see in the Tweet Stream are trying it out but very far away from moving back to it from OS X. I am OK with that though – everyone has their preferences.
I have primarily been using Windows 7 (64 bit version) on my desktop installation. It is dual booting with Windows Vista 64 bit and I guess I am spending close to 75% of my time in Windows 7. Part of that is beta testing but once I get in there to try a few things out or files bugs I end up staying and realizing a couple of hours later that I am still in Windows 7. It is that comfortable of an operating system. I have only experienced two BSOD’s and those were related to AVG Anti-Virus. I upgraded to a more recent build and no BSOD’s since then.
I personally had a light bulb go off earlier this week about the new taskbar. It is quite dynamic and missing a familiar stalwart from Windows vista – the Quick Launch Bar. Many acquaintances want that toolbar back. For me I am done with it now that I have learned how to really use the new taskbar. I felt so strongly about it that I wrote up an entire blog post about that – Windows 7 Taskbar Enlightenment. Hopefully you get the chance to read that and take a look at how that taskbar was designed to replace the functionality of the Quick Launch Bar.
One area I am still fighting to get to work right is the interaction of Windows Home Server and Windows 7. I have the connector installed but neither machine will wake up when it is triggered for a backup. Manual backups that I start work just fine and the connector software works on Windows 7 without issue as well.
All in all I think it has been a good week with Beta 1 of Windows 7. I also think the activity around Windows 7 resulted in a gain of almost 100 followers on my Twitter account – I am really enjoying the conversation over there as well.
This upcoming week will be unique in that I am travelling to Seattle and Whidbey Island, WA and travelling with my laptop that has Windows 7 installed on it. I think that experience has a blog post written all over it so expect to see that next week when I return.
If you have any questions at all about Windows 7 or anything else in this realm – fire up the comments and let me know. It is always great to hear from you.
