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Early adopters of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) next operating system won't face debilitating bi-hourly shutdowns or be forced to clean-install the release candidate until July 1, despite an email that went out over the holiday weekend setting a June 1 deadline.
The date for the shutdowns to begin is actually July 1, a month before the Windows 7 beta program expires, according to Microsoft Windows blogger Brandon LeBlanc, who posted the information early Tuesday to the company's Windows 7 blog.
LeBlanc's post doesn't explain how the mix-up occurred. Spokesperson Lauren Irving told TechNewsWorld that the posting would serve as the company's comment on the matter.
Microsoft urged anyone using the beta to move to the release candidate, which is available for download now.
Testing Can Still Be Troublesome
However, users would perhaps be best advised not to install the prerelease software on production machines or computers with critical data, said Michael Cherry, research vice president for operating systems at Directions on Microsoft -- even if it is a slick and stable operating system.
"I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone who says they have a transition problem," Cherry told TechNewsWorld. "You're volunteering to be a guinea pig."
Microsoft itself has provided the same advice.
"While the RC is stable and has been thoroughly tested, it's not the finished product. Your computer could crash and you could lose important files. So please back up your data and please don't test the RC on your primary home or business PC," the software maker says in an FAQ on the release candidate.
Potential problems include software installation failures, printer and video card problems, network access issues and corrupted files.
Good Early Reviews
Nevertheless, the release candidate is already a solid system, Cherry said.
"It does have a lot more -- I'll call it 'polish,'" he said. "It feels like a lot of the rough edges of Vista have been removed. I think this is why people are being deluded into using it as their primary OS."
The release candidate differs from the beta version in several key ways, according to Microsoft.
Among the biggest additions is XP Mode, a virtual environment within the Windows 7 operating system that allows users to run older programs. The release candidate also differs from the beta in several other ways, according to Microsoft.
It removes autorun for non-optical drives, which makes it more difficult for malicious software to be introduced via USB drives.
The release candidate features faster startup, shutdown, resume, search and USB device recognition times.
It also includes new networking drivers designed to improve coverage across networks.
Beta to RC to Release Timeline
Microsoft's current timeline calls for the beta program to end Aug. 1. Microsoft said it would like to release Windows 7 to manufacturers around August to make PCs with the software available in time for the Christmas shopping season.
The release candidates are supposed to begin experiencing regular shutdowns on March 1, 2010, and will expire outright in June 2010, according to Microsoft.
Vista SP2 Moving Toward Release
In related news, the latest service pack for Vista, SP2, is winding its way toward users.
The service pack, which rolls up hundreds of security and bug fixes, is currently available to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers.
It should soon be released to the general public and Microsoft update users, Cherry said.
The pack includes 39 security updates and 651 bugs by his count, Cherry noted, including 56 networking issues and 133 in the base operating system.
The pack also includes some application compatability updates and improved wireless networking support.
One surprise is that Internet Explorer 8 was not
included as part of the service pack, Cherry remarked. It's still a separate download.
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