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Windows 7 Released Early In UK
CNETNate writes "UK customers have been reporting that they received their copies of Windows 7 in the mail today. Currently the British postal service is threatening industrial action over pay, and planned walkouts may result in Windows 7 not being delivered on its release date. It is understood that Microsoft has agreed to let some retailers send out copies early to avoid disappointment, and to make the UK the first country in the world to have Windows 7 in customers' hands."
Not only the U.K.,
Windows 7 is already on sale in Israel.
Zoom Player Lead Dev.
I'll be honest; I'm not sure why there's so much delay before the general release anyhow. The RTM build was signed off on months ago, and went up for MSDN subscribers (a very small portion of the general public, but often people with very little connection to MS) only a few days later. At my school, through the MSDN Academic Alliance program (free MS software to endingeering students) we've been able to get Win7 for some weeks (and via http://dreamspark.com/ all students with a .edu email address can get Server 2008 R2, the server version of the Win7 release).
So... why so long before boxes hit shelves? It seems very odd to me.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Windows 7 has been available through amazon.de for some time now, and is being delivered as well. Nothing to see here, move along.
There was a release party in the small Dutch village of Zevenhuizen (' Seven houses') , last Saturday: http://www.windowszeven.nl/Windows_7_nieuws.php?post=76
So... why so long before boxes hit shelves? It seems very odd to me.
Basically: getting enough manufactured to cover initial demand and getting those units shipped to retailers. Many retailers might have had boxed copies in their warehouses weeks ago but they will have signed a deal saying they won't make them available until the official release date in order for the public release to be coordinated in all territories.
As well as accounting for manufacturing processes and regional shipment delays, they will have also allowed extra time for other unexpected extensions to these delays and other issues. There would also be a final test phase of the activation infrastructure to fit in too, to ensure it can cope with the sudden glut of activity on, and shortly after, release day.
There is also co-ordination with OEMs to consider. They would not be happy with retail copies going out before they had chance to update and test their offerings in time for release date - yes MS has them over a barrel to a certain extent so could tell them to go hang if it wanted to, but this isn't the right climate to be annoying major customers in. There are probably other marketing reasons to pick a coordinated date near, but not at, the end of the year too.
Releasing to MSDN subscribers is much easier. Most are download-only subscriptions now so just put the ISOs on subscriptions.msdn.microsoft.com and there is no need for physical anything never mind coordinated physical anything. For subscribers who still get disks that is just a plain DVD (and/or ISO files on a plain DVD) with no fancy hologram label and no box or other additional materials. It is not expected that developers have to wait for coordinated retail release, so there are no OEM concerns to worry about (in fact the OEMs would prefer developers to have early access - it will reduce problems and returns at their end of the market if there is less stuff out there with compatibility issues by release day).
It costs just about 3 USD, probably its fair value...
Well duh. In the same way Windows Genuine Advantage is an advantage.
And there's coordination with support providers: call centers need to retrain staff and write new support "scripts" for their personnel. And the manufacturers of other software, such as Microsoft Office need time to get the secret internal documentation of available libraries and toolkits so they can weave it into their releases. And third party hardware and software providers need a chance to test and integrate their components with Microsoft's release, or they may repeat what happened with Vista and ignore the release.
"How is that a benefit?"
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some people have to use windows, in spite of the fact that they hate it. Anyone who has had the misfortune to suffer with Vista will now be rejoicing that windows 7, which pretty much amounts to a bugfix version of vista with the added bonus of a taskbar which almost makes sense, a graphics driver that might actually work, the ability to boot in under 20 minutes, and all in an operating system where the beta version I've been running for the last couple of months was actually more stable than the officially released crock of arse that was vista.
This all contributes to removing some of the pain from the occasions where I have to select the "other" option in grub.
That said, I won't be inviting my friends round for a release party. Sorry.
I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.
Microsoft is carefully stage-managing the hype.
They are well aware that they need a win, some way to coax computer users off XP without frightening them into jumping off the Windows ship altogether. They can't take a risk by producing an innovative or interesting OS, but they still need to generate some excitement to erase all the bad feeling generated by Vista.
So they release a mildly facelifted version of their failed OS, rely on improved hardware to mask the worst of the sluggishness and hype it to the max.
Profit.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
They're totally spoiling my launch party! After I spent all day organizing my "Activities" and picking my favorite "Features" to share with everyone! Now they'll all go to someone else's launch party the day before.
The hell with them, I'm installing FreeBSD then.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Minor correction to the story, the dispute isn't really about pay, it's about changes in working conditions. There are some aspects that cover what counts as overtime so pay is involved, but it's not just "we want more money".
And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some of us use Windows because we like it. I ran Linux on my desktop for a couple of years and moved back to Windows around SP1 of XP; I simply prefer it.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that the postal service is threatening industrial inaction over pay?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
- The absence of a directory up button in the explorer. No I don't want to use alt-up when I'm with my hand on the mouse and don't get me started on the horrifying location bar!
Wait, backspace doesn't work anymore?! (Not using Vista, can't verify.) Yes, the location bar is a pain, but clicking the empty region gets you to the editable path box – directory structure delimited by backslashes, as you wanted.
- When there's a number of windows, but none have focus, and one uses alt-f4, one immidiately gets a shutdown dialog. I just want to close my apps dammit!
Jesus Christ, and hitting "Esc" is too much trouble for you? It's not like this is unexpected or new behavior (as the other responder has pointed out).
You want a close-all hotkey? Never existed. You want it added? That's not a "fix", it's an addition.
- The absence of a 'Don't ask me for permission to confirm system changes until next session' option in UAC.
That's called "turning UAC off", and while discouraged it's entirely possible.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
I know it's heresy on /. but Windows 7 is actually quite good. Seriously.
Maybe we can now just stop all the holy wars and live in peace and harmony while celebrating the diversity of software available. I can dream can't I? :)
PS. Steve Jobs smells.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Not going to happen. For large business needs, maybe. But even then, the Royal Mail beats its competitors hands down on price, which really matters when you start talking in bulk terms.
Is it really worth paying up to 10 times as much to get it one day early? Especially when you consider the sorting offices for post offices are local and often within 1-2 miles of you address. Whereas the FedEx style companies have only one office/distribution centre and its always outside of town/city in some crappy industrial estate with no bus service to it. So if you miss the package you have to fork out almost as much as it cost you to have it delivered in the first place and go through the inconvenience.
I've had no problems with company itself (it's a private company btw, despite its name) just a few of their staff. My problems with my postie were dealt with extremely fast and not only was he fired, but they promptly called the police in and my stolen mail was returned :)