Windows 7 RC

[soccerballtux]

Saw another poster posting about this...

Is this possible? How long would I have after 7 is released to get it and punch in the serial? Will I be up to date/will there be any problems in upgrading from RC to the Retail version when it's released? Will I not be able to upgrade to retail until I get the serial?

I get an academic version free through school, but we don't usually get that until a few months after it's out for Retail/everyone else.

 

[masteryoda34]

The RC will in all likelihood differ from the final version. It will be set to expire on a certain date. I doubt you will be able to enter a key to activate. I also doubt you will be able to upgrade it to the final version. You probably will have to do a clean format when the final version is released.

If you don't want to do a clean format then you shouldn't be running unfinished OS's IMHO.

 

[soccerballtux]

Ok thanks that answers all my questions!!!

 

[alevasseur14]

I really hope my school gets the x64 versions this time. They only carry 32 bit Vista so it was a pain to get x64 installed.

 

[13Gigatons]

The Vista RC could be upgraded to Vista RTM. All the Win7 builds have been upgradable to the next builds. The only thing stopping the RC build was a simple file that could be edited.

 

[corkyg]

The answer is "No!" This is the verbatim Microsoft Win 7 Beta RC pland just copied from MS TechNet:

"Attention Windows 7 Beta and Release Candidate (RC) testers! To avoid interruption, you?ll need to start planning now to rebuild your test machines using a valid version of Windows before the software expires.

"Windows will notify you that the expiration process is beginning and two weeks later your PC will begin shutting down every two hours.

"The Beta expires on August 1, 2009, and bi-hourly shutdowns will begin July 1, 2009. The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns will begin on March 1, 2010. In both cases, you?ll need to rebuild your test PCs with another valid version of the OS, and reinstall your programs and data. "

IOW - the final version will be a new install, not an upgrade.

 

[akugami]

Actually you should be able to "upgrade" from the betas to the RC and I'm going to assume you can upgrade the RC to RTM. The issue is that they (the developers at MS) have noticed increased instability and other problems when upgrading between certain builds. That is why they have purposely disabled this option. You can still do it if you want to muck around instead of doing a fresh install. If you do have any stability problems or weird bugs, don't blame anyone but yourself.

 

[corkyg]

"Actually you should be able to "upgrade" from the betas to the RC and I'm going to assume you can upgrade the RC to RTM."

Not logical at all. First of all, RC is BETA! RTM is final. There will be no upgrade from RC to RTM. I guess you don't read Microsoft very well. ???

 

[akugami]

http://windows7news.com/2009/0...windows-7-rc-to-final/

http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archi...pgrade-experience.aspx

Info is directly from MS. I put the word upgrade in quotes because while it's possible, it's not officially supported by MS to upgrade from the Betas to the RC to the RTM versions.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: akugami
I put the word upgrade in quotes because while it's possible, it's not officially supported by MS to upgrade from the Betas to the RC to the RTM versions.

That's right. And a hack to bypass paying for the upgrade is simply piracy. There is no entitlement to the final version for free unless it comes as part of an official beta tester's reward given by MS.

 

[akugami]

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: akugami
I put the word upgrade in quotes because while it's possible, it's not officially supported by MS to upgrade from the Betas to the RC to the RTM versions.

That's right. And a hack to bypass paying for the upgrade is simply piracy. There is no entitlement to the final version for free unless it comes as part of an official beta tester's reward given by MS.

Nowhere am I advocating piracy and the hack I linked to will not help you pirate Win7. I really have no idea why you thought I was advocating piracy. I have copies of Vista Ultimate I paid for myself (as well as a few freebie copies). I also have a MS Technet Plus account so I've already downloaded and am about to install Win7 RC over the weekend on my secondary computer.

It would be monumentally stupid for MS to not make Win7 RTM treat the beta keys in much the same ways that the betas and RC versions treat them. In other words it'll start shutting them down once the public trial periods are over.

People like to keep some of their personal settings when upgrading from one beta to another, from a beta to RC, or from RC to RTM. That is one of the main reasons for mucking around with the install files of Win7. If the RC is pretty stable, I'd like to save time and not have to reconfigure the settings in Win7 to my likings. Another major one is not having to re-install every single app you have when installing Win7 RTM.

Again, the information on how to allow updates was from MS itself. Not a third party hack discovered by someone messing with the installation files. There are valid reasons, mainly time and convenience related, in why one would want to be able to upgrade from the betas or RC to RTM version.

 

[13Gigatons]

Plenty of users will upgrade their well invested RC installs with slightly modded RTM iso. Clean install is great but it takes time to reinstall software and change settings.