Windows 7 For all those who may be confused...

[Radenight]

Hey all,

I just wanted to clarify a couple things for all those Windows 7 users who may be a little confused by all these leaks floating around..

First of all, the Windows 7 RC is Build 7100 and is still available for download directly from Microsoft and will be at least through July.. It is plenty stable enough to continue using until the Final Retail Release..

Secondly, you more than likely have noticed a vast number of builds being leaked lately.. Please DO NOT feel like your missing out on anything if you don't get one of the leaks.. or that you are 'behind' by not getting them. These leaks are daily/interim builds, they hold no drastic changes from the RC. Slight speed enhancements and overall performance improvements with minor bug fixes are about all they have over the RC... Also, since these are daily builds, they are not officially supported by Microsoft. Which mainly means they will NOT receive updates if any should be issued between now and the Retail Release..

It is nice to see how Windows 7 is coming along by using one of these builds, I admit.. But like I said, it's not neccessary to download them.. Not to mention the fact that by using torrents you run the risk of downloading viruses, trojans, worms, malware, etc, etc..

I just wanted to clarify that as I've noticed a few posts that seem like some people are confused about the leaks.. Hopefully this sheds some light on the situation..

 

[Mystere]

To clarify. If you're using 7100 and everything works fine for you, there is no real need to get a later build as later builds won't hold any new features. However, if you're suffering from a bug or glitch that's really annoying, a later build may fix the issue (it did for me. 7201 has been perfect for me and i'm not moving until RTM).

So if you find a build that works perfectly for you, don't mess with it.

 

[Radenight]

That's exactly what I said.. or at least implied..

 

[Ppchkn]

but but... another leak got online today! we must install it!!!!


lol jk, staing in 7210 until RTM comes out =)

 

[reghakr]

Agree completely with Radenight

these new leaked builds seem to have some anomalies in them and since the majority of us are using the official RC, it;s difficult to answer a question about a newer build.

 

[SnowDog]

Ya it's the same old story 'the latest and the greatest' It's the American Way.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
not wishing to "Spoil the Party" but I find it quite OK to download interim builds as I can see how well (or poorly) they've (MS and others) done their regression testing as we approach nearer and nearer to the final W7 release.

For those who aren't sure of what Regression testing does - simply it's as follows.

Regression testing means that say a problem has been fixed with Module A. Later on another problem is found that requires a change to say Module A again and a new Module B, then the Regression test fails if the original problem re-appears again even though the new problem has been fixed.

For me I've actually found problems with LATER builds that worked fine with earlier builds - this also warns me of possible problems as we approach the final W7 release.

My most stable and correct release is so far 7137 which I'm using as a "reference" build ( 7100 and 7127 were also spot on for me).

7209 and 7229 had some "Backward compatability" problems that didn't exist in earlier builds - I've posted elsewhere.

So for TESTING there's nothing wrong in using these builds (of course DO check that they are genuine and have no viruses, trojans etc in them especially if you download from torrent sites). However don't be surprised if they throw up errors that didn't exist in the "Official RC build 7100)

Cheers
jimbo

 

[reghakr]

Hello jimbo,

I haven't downloaded anything other than the official RC, but what I can't understand is why so many people who have downloaded this newer builds seem to be having more problems.

My assumption is that MS is incorporating many of the fixes posted that were considered bugs or fix problems with the official RC.

That doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[dam89]

Haven't bothered changing from the RC(Build 7100), i have to issues that need to be fixed

 

[Radenight]

Hi there
not wishing to "Spoil the Party" but I find it quite OK to download interim builds as I can see how well (or poorly) they've (MS and others) done their regression testing as we approach nearer and nearer to the final W7 release.

For those who aren't sure of what Regression testing does - simply it's as follows.

Regression testing means that say a problem has been fixed with Module A. Later on another problem is found that requires a change to say Module A again and a new Module B, then the Regression test fails if the original problem re-appears again even though the new problem has been fixed.

For me I've actually found problems with LATER builds that worked fine with earlier builds - this also warns me of possible problems as we approach the final W7 release.

My most stable and correct release is so far 7137 which I'm using as a "reference" build ( 7100 and 7127 were also spot on for me).

7209 and 7229 had some "Backward compatability" problems that didn't exist in earlier builds - I've posted elsewhere.

So for TESTING there's nothing wrong in using these builds (of course DO check that they are genuine and have no viruses, trojans etc in them especially if you download from torrent sites). However don't be surprised if they throw up errors that didn't exist in the "Official RC build 7100)

Cheers
jimbo

I do see your point, and it is a valid point.. But for the vast majority of 'general public' testers this simply doesn't apply.. For them, using these daily builds just adds confusion and tarnishes the overall image of Windows 7 due to "errors" in the daily builds.. Many download a leaked daily build thinking that it's another official release. Therefor they expect it to automatically be 100% better than the last build.. then when they realize it isn't for whatever stupid little reason the bashing and what not begin.. BETA/RC testing isn't for everyone and adding daily/interim builds to the picture definitely doesn't help...

 

[Zeeman28a]

I'm on 7100 for about 3 weeks and no issues thus far other than trying to find where MS put stuff that I got used to working with in XP. Oh and I hate that new backup program. I want to choose where and what to backup thank you very much Microsoft. You could have at least given us that choice.