Microsoft has announced the release date for Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 as 23 October 2009 (Australian Time), while the RTM (Release to Manufacture) is to be in July.
It’s been much easier to get my hands on the Windows 7 Release Candidate, so here are some of the details for those interested in how Windows Vista should have been.
If you are interested in downloading a copy to play with and for application testing then head on over to the Microsoft site. This time it will be available until July so there is plenty of time, there is also no limit on the number of product keys either. The Windows 7 RC expires on the 1st June, 2010.
File information for Windows 7 Release Candidate 32bit:
| Size | : | 2.35GB (2530975744 bytes) |
| File Name | : | 7100.0.090421-1700_x86fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culfrer_en_dvd.iso |
| MD5 | : | 8867C133 30F56A93 944BCD46 DCD73590 |
| SHA-1 | : | 7D1F486C A569EFFF FB719CFB 48355BB7 BF499712 |
| SHA-256 | : | 9EC4332C 38A61755 94BC08F5 CBF9AEBA C2AB310E 61BB2969 07614AC5 8BE498FC |
| SHA-512 | : | 034B624D 59FBF820 989295CB BF6263A2 23E997D2 28C71B80 5414923B 5C0C9D79 0D38E2E0 B869F0C4 41EAF697 A6219312 ED540365 5C968A11 01C4DCA1 2222F430 |
| Size-64 | : | 00000000 96DBA000 |
| ED2K | : | 4F05183FB96440457ED07EE4D2249DDA |
| Download | : | Download – Microsoft.com |
File information for Windows 7 Release Candidate 64bit:
| Size | : | 3.04GB (3270828032 bytes) |
| File Name | : | 7100.0.090421-1700_x64fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culxfrer_en_dvd.iso |
| MD5 | : | 98341AF3 56551379 66E382C4 FEAA282D |
| SHA-1 | : | FC867FE1 AB2E0A97 96F9E4D1 55B44EA6 998F4874 |
| SHA-256 | : | 1D54A73C 562B3984 F07B7AD3 DB99E250 44602EDB 668536B3 1F4A4E5B 7F6DFBCC |
| SHA-512 | : | E6699BA2 56697389 A47137EE C3952190 6E9E998D C00D9A68 DC25A34A BB6615D9 0441FAA0 6F566DC1 1A7C75C2 6A25F20C 10E56261 EA06F052 2C072CF3 3912D83E |
| Size-64 | : | 00000000 C2F4E000 |
| ED2K | 3AD10D2A90D9D527E171EE16738BA2EE | |
| Download | : | Download – Microsoft.com |
Just a quick tip for Database nerds. In x64 versions of Windows there are two ODBC control panels, one is for 64bit ODBC drivers the other is for 32bit ODBC drivers.
You can access the 32bit control panel with:
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe
You can access the 64bit control panel with:
%WINDIR%\System32\odbcad32.exe
Both these can be entered into Run.
Well after a nights sleep I’ve now got my hands on a Windows 7 Beta Product Key. (So after all I didn’t miss out)
Now come the fun part, since I have a product key now, I can actually download the software as it’s worth my time and bandwidth to do so now. So now again we play the waiting game for the files to download.
Update 1
To get a serial number you will need to go to the Microsoft site.
Here is the file information for Windows 7 Beta 32bit:
| Size | : | 2.44GB |
| File Name | : | 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso |
| MD5 | : | F9DCE6EB D0A63930 B44D8AE8 02B63825 |
| SHA-1 | : | 60711842 82B2156F F61CDC52 60545C07 8CCA31EE |
| SHA-256 | : | F9C3D02C 2E2A1C8B 22E0A77E 0374E36B 7738640E 2334EAEE FAE11F61 5B5B85C0 |
| SHA-512 | : | B0073216 6FB5DEEE CA315DBF 7F104757 A566D51E 8E70536F E73AE533 3937D07D 56BC57DF B552B385 2363B881 8F0A02E1 818AB033 24120984 B99E834E 23F28AC1 |
| Size-64 | : | 00000000 9C17A000 |
| ED2K | : | 536FE89EAC9B27B5061E81F36485C7EF |
| Direct Download | : | Download – Microsoft.com |
Here is the file information for Windows 7 Beta 64bit:
| Size | : | 3.15GB |
| File Name | : | 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.iso |
| MD5 | : | 773FC9CC 60338C61 2AF716A2 A14F177D |
| SHA-1 | : | E09FDBC1 CB3A92CF 6CC87204 0FDAF655 53AB62A5 |
| SHA-256 | : | 4BE7AE27 4E2B3418 4DDEE8D9 5814BA09 908D200D 96DF05D1 E8908C1A 568332A7 |
| SHA-512 | : | 8C08BBD4 FE196E2A 11E17DE4 2A2DC8B8 5575D34B 961C3854 A6C06E04 E56BFFB0 FA5A988B 953C2950 88668677 83413AE4 A67BFC37 81D6016B 0EBFC2D0 4CAE6C48 |
| Size-64 | : | 00000000 C9E1A800 |
| ED2K | : | F9BDCD5339819024C01B498677ED8545 |
| Direct Download | : | Download – Microsoft.com |
While I wait because the release has been delayed due to overwhelming demand, I thought I would at least create a blog post so I can put the details here once I have my hands on the serial number for the Windows 7 Beta. (If I get my hands on one)
At present the Windows Team Blog is looking like it’s getting hit pretty hard by nerds desperate to get their grubby hands on the Windows 7 Public Beta.
Update 1
A new message has appeared on the Microsoft site saying:
Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal — we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We’re sorry for the delay and we’ll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience.
Update 2
Ok, today is over, so it’s time to go to bed, hope I don’t miss my opportunity to get a key while I’m asleep.
An article that appeared on PC Advisor is running the claim that Microsoft, due to the unpopularity of Windows Vista is pushing up the development schedule for Windows 7.
It was drawn to my attention today that it can be a real bitch to run this old DOS games and other DOS applications under modern Microsoft Windows, thus I thought I would dump this guide on everyone.
Personally there are some old DOS games I still like to play who haven’t lost any play value e.g. The Settlers 2, Dune 2, WarCraft… etc. All of which were programed to run in Microsoft DOS and not Windows. While Windows does have some ability to run these new versions of Windows are slowly killing off support for these old DOS applications. What prompted me to write this is that I run Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, and low and behold the following error message if you try to run a DOS application.
Frustrating isn’t it, you will probably see this in Windows Vista x64 as well.
But low and behold in all it’s glory there is a solution. DOSBox.
DOSBox is a DOS-emulator that uses the SDL-library which makes DOSBox very easy to port to different platforms. DOSBox has already been ported to many different platforms, such as Windows, BeOS, Linux, MacOS X…
DOSBox also emulates CPU:286/386 realmode/protected mode, Directory FileSystem/XMS/EMS, Tandy/Hercules/CGA/EGA/VGA/VESA graphics, a SoundBlaster/Gravis Ultra Sound card for excellent sound compatibility with older games.
Now while that is a quote from the site, it’s actually true.