Microsoft just released Windows 7 Beta yesterday and I thought I’d try it out. Now I’m sure most people are firing up VPC and installing it, but I wanted to put it on really hardware. I slapped a new hard drive in my Quad Core, 8 Gig, SLI development machine and ran it through my stack.
My typical installation goes something like this:
- Install OS and run updater
- Install Windows Home Server connector
- Run a Home Server Backup
- Install Paint.net -- “Don’t leave home without it!”
- Install SQL Server 2008 Express
- Install Visual Studio 2008 Team Systems and SP1
- Install ASP.NET MVC Framework Beta
- Install FireFox, Firebug, Web Developer, and YSlow
- Run another Home Server Backup
I connected Team Explorer to my MVC Club Site project on Codeplex (not published yet), compiled and fired up the application. Everything installed and ran perfectly.
Here are a few things I notice during installs:
- Windows Home Server connector works with Windows 7 out of the box.
- Windows Home Server labels Windows 7 Beta as Windows Vista.
- The SQL Server 2008 installer did not complain about Windows Installer 4.5, Powershell, or .Net 3.5 SP1; they must be built into Windows 7.
- IE 8 is the default browser.
In between installs I had a chance to take the OS for a spin. I have to say, this is what Vista should have been from the start. The nag screens are gone! The tool bar has some new features. We have native support for ISO files (FINALLY!). Everything just seems polished. I’ll be working with Windows 7 Beta over the next couple of days, but so far everything looks promising.