Windows 7 SP1 RC is now available for download. But before you start rushing to get it installed, you might want to have a look for the following.
- Installing Windows 7 SP1 RC will put your Windows into Evaluation mode and will expire on 30th Nov 2011.
- A watermark which says Evaluation Copy will be added to the bottom right of the screen.
- SP1 Beta needs to be removed before installing SP1 RC. Read here on how to uninstall SP1 Beta.
- The service pack does not contain feature or GUI changes for Windows 7. It is a cumulative of all updates and hotfixes for Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2. It does however include two new feature for the server edition, Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX. For more details, please refer to here.
download: Windows 7 SP1 Release Candidate
Find out more about Windows 7 Upgrade Option here
Windows Easy Transfer allows user to copy account settings, personal folders, E-mails and various personalize items from one computer to another. It is a good tool if you want to retain the same user experience when you change computer.
Windows Easy Transfer is also a great tool should you want to change the folder name in the Users folder (C:\Users\”account”) as it is not advisable to rename the folder and change registry settings.
To use Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7
- Click on Start and type Windows Easy Transfer in the search box and press Enter.
- On the Windows Easy Transfer window, Click on Next on the Welcome screen
- Select An external hard disk or USB flash drive followed by This is my old computer.
- Wait for scanning to complete, select the user account that you wish to transfer and click Next
- Click on Save and navigate to the location to save your Easy Transfer file. Your account settings and files will then be copied into the Easy Transfer file.
- Click on Next when the transfer has completed. Click on Next again and Close.
Note: Till this step, what Windows Easy Transfer has done is to make a copy of your current user account and store them to the Easy Transfer file. In the next few steps, you will be able to create a new account and extract the files into it.
- Launch Windows Easy Transfer again and click on Next on the Welcome screen.
- Select An external hard disk or USB flash drive followed by This is my new computer.
- Select Yes and navigate to the location of the Easy Transfer file that was created earlier.
- Select the user accounts to be transfered and click on Advanced Options.
- Select an existing user account on the computer or select Create User from the drop-down list to create a new account for the files to be transfered to.
- Click on Save and then Transfer. The settings and files will then be transfered to the specified user account.
- Click on Close on the Complete screen.
- Logon to your new account.
To use Windows Easy Transfer for Windows Vista
- Click on Start and type Windows Easy Transfer in the search box and press Enter.
- On the Windows Easy Transfer window, click on Next on the Welcome screen.
- Select Start a new transfer, folloed by My old computer, Use a CD, DVD, or other removable media and then External hard disk or to a network location.
- In the Choose a network location screen, type in the location you want to save the Easy Transfer file and click Next.
- Select My user account, files, and settings only and click on Transfer on the next screen.
- The transfer will start immedietely and you will be prompted to close Windows Easy Transfer when the transfer is done.
Note: Till this step, what Windows Easy Transfer has done is to make a copy of your current user account and store them to the Easy Transfer file. In the next few steps, you will be able to create a new account and extract the files into it.
- Again, launch Windows Easy Transfer and click Next on the welcome screen.
- Select Continue a transfer in progress, followed by My new computer and then On an external hard disk or network location.
- Browse and locate the Easy Transfer file that you had created earlier and click Next.
- Select the user account you want to copy the files to, or alternatively you can provide a new user account name. Click on Next, then Transfer on the next screen.
- The account data will then be copied to the specified new user account. You will be prompted to close Windows Easy Transfer when the whole process has completed
- Logon to your new account.
The initial much speculated price for Windows 7 retail box has been put to an end as Microsoft had revealed the estimated price for both the full and upgrade box.
The estimated price for upgrade packaged retail box are:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): US$119.99 (SG$174.79)
- Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): US$199.99 (SG$291.34)
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): US$219.99 (SG$320.47)
And the estimated price for full packaged retail box are:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99 (SG$291.34)
- Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99 (SG$437.01)
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99 (SG$466.15)
A program for people to pre-order Windows 7 at 50% discount had been made available for selected countries, unfortunately Singapore is not on the list. The few countries are US, Japan, France, UK and Germany.
source: The Windows Blog
Windows 7 beta (pre 7100 builds) will begin shutting down every 2 hours starting 1st July. On top of that, desktop wallpaper will changed to black color every hour. Users will still be able to change the wallpaper, although the black wallpaper will be forced changed the next hour.
Beta users are advised to obtain and install the RC version of Windows 7 here before 15 August.
The free public download of Windows 7 will be available until 15 Aug. You can get the free RC product key and ISO here.
In addition, the RTM date is projected to be 13 July. Meaning that there will be a code freeze to Windows 7 source code and subsequent modifications will be released as patches.
Windows 7 to Windows XP downgrade will be available till April 2011 or until Windows 7 SP1 is released, as according to the latest unofficial statement from Microsoft. Prior to this, the downgrade was only available for 6 months after Win7 launch (April 2010), where OEMs can still sell PCs installed with WinXP. After the expiry date, OEMs can only sell Win7 PCs.
It is also worth nothing the Windows XP is now in the extended support phase.
After much grumbles from the community, Microsoft had finally decided to pull out the 3 application cap in the Starter Edition, instead, allows as many as the machine can support.
In addition, some other restrictions had been placed to differentiate the Starter Edition with other versions. The Starter Edition will not support
- Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
- Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
- The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
- Multi-monitor support.
- DVD playback.
- Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
- Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
- Domain support for business customers.
- XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.
Windows 7 may well be available on the shelf by 22 Oct 09, or at least RTM (Release to Manufacturer) by then.
source: cnet
Build 7077 has been known to be available on various torrent sites. High chance is that this will be the final build before RC a.k.a RC escrow. The RC build is projected to be 7100 with builds 7105 onwards to be new developments under the RC phase.
Build 7077 should carry the file name 7077.0.090404-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRC1CULFRER_EN_DVD.iso
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