Using Windows 7 RC? Pay Up Or Auto Shutdown Warned

CWmike writes with a warning that free preview copies of Windows 7 in the wild will start nagging users to pay up in a couple of weeks until ultimately shutting down the PC altogether in a month. "Microsoft unveiled the schedule for Windows 7 Release Candidate's retirement in May 2009, when it issued the early look to the public. At the time, it said Windows 7 RC would expire June 1, 2010. Before that date, however, users are to receive warnings of the impending end. Starting on Feb. 15, Windows 7 RC will display notices every few hours that the machine will periodically shut down beginning on March 1. As of March 1, PCs running Windows 7 RC will automatically shut down every two hours. Those shutdowns will come without warning."

Comments

Re:..so?

[jmorris42]

> And that's Windows 7's fault and cannot be Firefox's? Right? Blind fanboi, much?

1. I was giving my first look at W7 experience. Firefox has never blown up on any previous Windows install I have used and I only use IE to download FF. Microsoft has teams dedicated to making sure key ISV's products work because they know people buy computers (normally never really thinking about the OS, which is exactly what Microsoft wants) to run applications and if popular apps don't work customers don't care who is at fault. If they aren't working with Moz Corp that IS their fault.

2. Guess you didn't/couldn't read the next sentence where I note that while FF blows up on launch on W7 it blows up on close on F12, hence along with the noted different but equally wrong docking behavior merits the Meh! verdict on both.

Although I guess I should rate Windows worse on the docking problem because it is a preload and the dock is advertised as a recommended accessory. Lenovo should get to share blame with Microsoft for not properly testing. Windows KNOWS the new resolution of the docked display but decides to keep running at the lower resolution of the internal panel on a warm dock with the lid closed. In the same situation Fedora believes both panels are active and, worse, that the internal one is the primary so the gnome panel isn't visible, making the monitor control applet hard to get at. On Windows I can quickly fix the resolution and on Fedora I bound a key to pop up gnome-display-properties so it is usable.

The bigger point being neither are perfect but both are about equally usable. Availability of a key app, preferred philosophy (UNIX vs Windows vs Mac) are both more important factors in picking an OS, all three major OS families having long since passed the threshold of being 'good enough' to get work done. In my case I like the UNIX Way and won't use closed source if an open solution exists that doesn't blow. For now that puts me on Linux but I'm threatening to ditch it for BSD if I can't at least find some reliable documentation on some of this new freedesktop *kit/udev/hal/etc steaming piles of xml bullcrap. Fighting the frigin registry is easier, at least it is fairly well documented these days.