Windows 7 Beta, Windows Home Server, and my Developement Stack
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