My sincere apolgizes to those of you that I may have offended by my last couple of replies.

Sure we don't ask Stardock for free updates for beta testing, but then Stardock does offer a lot in free things for their subscribers.  Okay enought of that.

I'm in a similar situation as Wizard, thought my XP system died but It was brought back to life, though not before I purchased a new much more powerfull computer with Vista on it.  Hmmm, maybe both myself and Wizard need to get on MS's cycle of OS updates.  Yeah that's the ticket.

Again folks, my apoligizes.  Just wait until we get closer to the actual release date for Win 7.  Seems just like yesterday we were reading the same stuff here about XP and Vista.  Ooops, there I go again!

no need to appologize Philly, my response may have came across differently than intended.

I didn't see anything in there that would have offended anyone.  I'm not offended.  But I did intend my replies to come across exactly as they did...

Well it would be nice of them to reward testers for installing and being monitored. They do that with other programs in the works. But it has been a while now since I've actually seen anything with direct rewards. Back when we beta tested Vista there was a reward program and I got a copy of Office 2007 Ultimate edition for free doing that testing.

I've been reading that MS is laying off more employees and cutting positions. So it is very unlikely to see much of the rewards programs as before.

If you are worried about installing ... then do not do so. But as I have here installed as a dual boot on my Vista machine. Seems this has a better install than the beta did. Having less problems with over run regs and files that write wrong.

But I'm very satisfied with having MS look at my systems here. They do it anyway... Plus this makes things work for some sort of progress at what I may want not just for this OS. But for the next one to come. Which I'm really waiting for Win 8 x64. Noticed one thing about the RC here. Seems to use a lot less memory and cpu than before. Plus it sure does not compare to what Vista use's. Big difference so far. Only thing is drivers for my mouse and keyboard are not supported. Sounds like Vista again almost. But the drivers they give you for those hardware items does work. Less all those fancy features you get from Logitech as such.

All in all I'll probably buy a copy of this when it is finally released. Seems a lot cleaner now than Vista was and I may need it for something. Like doing WB's for stuff and just overall testing of programs.

If you want to use a fair program for firewall and anti-virus ... Mcafee has a beta program - which is supported here on Win7. But you will have to signup for it if there is any openings. Not too sure about all that - but it works good for what I use here.

Anyway best of luck with the testing. Plus if you only have one computer and use it as your primary computer. Then I would be careful about testing and make sure you have a good backup image to fall back on.

I have to buy a new OS most probably I will buy it when it is available.

To the point and accurate. We should not expect any rewards as it is economic crisis.

Do you *really* think a forum agreeing on a timeframe makes it a fact?

We can test that. Let us all agree on the fact that a beta release of the complete Object Desktop suite will be available for windows 7 by June-July... The challenge is *ON*

Anyone had any problems with Win7 kicking them off their network?

resetting network connection fixes it but it's better for me if that never happens.

I downloaded the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta fro MS to see if my computer will run Win 7.  Yes it can, it should, just brought a new computer with Vista Hom Premium 64 bit on it.  Now that I know it will run it I just need to decide when I will download it.  I probably will wait until it's presented to the retail market and WindowBlinds 7 is released.

No, I haven't downloaded Win7 RC, and I don't intend to, even though I'm running XP.  My life is complicated enough without voluntarily playing guinea pig for Microsoft.  My computer is pretty old, and when it finally does kick the bucket, I'm hoping to be able to pick up somebody's old Vista machine from Craigslist or a pawn shop.  "Brand New" is something that I'm learning to live without and realizing is overrated anyway.  Brand new means I witness every aspect of deterioration.  Used means I only see what's expected to happen anyway. That's much less of a heart break.