‽ (That’s an interrobang, which means I am expressing both surprise and wonder.)
Download Squad has a story highlighting the (ostensible) release date for the Release Candidate for Windows 7. It’s not that I doubt it, as I think that it falls right in line with a big ‘back to school’ push that Microsoft would like to see (I can hear the ch-ching of the cash registers now!), but I wonder if they are being sincere in saying that the finalized code is not set in stone just yet.
I have seen some increases in quality on my test machine, and now I must say that the problems are fewer than before. I still think that the shine is not fully there just yet (putting aside the things I personally hate about Windows 7 and the interface).
I’m certain that Microsoft knows how very important it is that no easily reproduced bugs be visible on the first code released to manufacturing, as there is absolutely no room for error after the Vista incident.
Ok gang, it looks like we may finally have an honest-to-goodness release date for the Windows 7 RC: May 5, 2009.
A page has been posted on Microsoft’s partner portal which tells MSDN and Technet subscribers that they can download the RC now, though that doesn’t appear to be true just yet. Clicking through to the downloads page still only displays the Windows 7 Beta downloads.
It could turn out to be another gaff like the one last month. However, there’s no screwy publication date this time, so it may just be that the partner downloads are due in the very near future. The page includes another reminder that the RC is not a finished product and restates that the goal is to both showcase what’s coming in Windows 7 as well as continue real-world testing.
There’s been speculation that the RC build may include a significant change to the Windows 7 UI in order to generate some added excitement. We’ll have to wait patiently to find out if that’s true, but no doubt there will be screenshots or an ISO leak soon after the download is made available.
If you missed out on the beta and aren’t excited about downloading an unofficial file via some torrent site, you’ll soon have the chance to get your hands on a genuine Microsoft download once again.
[via NeoWin]
It’s kind of viral, the way this stuff spreads, isn’t it? The significant change to the UI that would generate excitement for me would be the inclusion of the Windows 95 GUI. That would go a long way towards showing me (and a lot of businesses, I would suspect!) that Microsoft listens to the concerns of the customer – and I would think that it would drive adoption rates through the roof. If the ability to change back and forth between UIs was there, business users could change at their own rate, or not at all, and that would be like that warm fuzzy feeling everyone is looking for.
It would be 90% of the Better XP than XP for many, and those who want that will switch much sooner, knowing that eventually drivers will be a problem for XP equipment.
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