After downloading Windows 7 Beta from Technet, the first step in the installation of Windows 7 Beta was to download Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and create a new virtual image – I started with 512MB Ram and a 32GB Hard Drive.

Capturing the .iso image and starting the virtual image brought up the installation screen at which point I fired up the option “What to know before installing Windows” which talked about installing Vista (I understand Windows 7 is built on Vista).

After choosing the option to install the software the License Agreement appeared and required reading through and accepting. Microsoft have a policy of not allowing screen shots of beta software without explicit permission which is unfortunate. The other main thing I learned from the License Agreement is that the BETA software will stop functioning on August 1, 2009.

Following acceptance of the license agreement I was required to choose a hard drive partition to install the software after which the installation began in earnest. Post installation (which took about an hour) I was prompted for a username then a product key for activation, and the protection settings. The clock followed then the network location screen after which point Windows finalized the settings with the message “Windows 7 Ultimate”.

A few seconds later and the familiar Vista like Welcome screen appeared with the flashing orb followed by “Preparing your desktop…”. About two minutes later a fish appeared on the screen (with a message showing Windows 7, For testing purposes only. Build 7000” and the Personalize Settings box jumped up. Moments later, the Recycle Bin appeared with a “Send feedback” icon and a message in the new look task bar telling me to click to “View important messages”.

The task bar consists of four sections

• The Windows Start orb with a link to Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Windows Media Player and Action Center
• The running application area
• The right hand side has the notification area with a solve PC issues icon, a network icon, and the time and date.
• The far right has a small chunk which now acts as the “Show Desktop”

The Solve PC issues icon had one message telling me to switch security on – Windows Defender which was included and I was left with a button to “Find a Virus Protection program online”.

Observations from the first few minutes of using Windows 7 Beta:

• Internet Explorer is version 8 Beta (version 8.0.7000.0)
• Sidebar appears to have been replaced by the Desktop Gadget Gallery (which allows you to put gadgets anywhere on the desktop – which feels a big improvement)
• The interface feels quite zippy even though its beta and running under Virtual PC
• Control panel has a screen showing common tasks with a link to show all control panel items
• Post install I currently have 25.6GB free out of the 31.8 GB virtual disk space
• Windows Memory Diagnostic, under Administrative Tools, can help identify problems that may lead to loss of data.
• The Snipping Tool allows you to select any area of the screen and copy it, annotate it, save it, or send it.
• Remote Desktop Connections feel quicker
• Copying to and from network drives feels much quicker than it did on Vista (copying 16 files (72MB total) from a network server took around 20 seconds)

I set about installing the update file (KB961367) which, after a while trying to get it to run from a network share, I found it needed to be copied locally and run directly. It took a few moments then the machine needed rebooting where it presented a new black screen listing the programs waiting to be closed – the list counted down quickly and the virtual machine rebooted happily.

So far Windows 7 Beta is looking promising – imagine Vista with the annoying and slow bits taken out. The only real problem I ran into was after attempting to install virtual machine additions which appeared to greatly upset the installation most severely. I currently have the “Start-up Repair” screen post boot up with the message “Your computer was unable to start” – it has been sat like that for quite some time now while it is “Attempting repairs…”