Anthony Doesburg: Creating window of opportunity for version 7

As Microsoft softens us up for the release of a new version of Windows, it's borrowing a tactic used to good effect by its lesser - but more loved - rivals.

In mid-January it made a beta version of Windows 7 available for public download, something it has never done with an operating system before. In the month or so it was there for the taking, more than 20,000 New Zealanders helped themselves.

It's now doing the same again. Early this month it put what's called the release candidate on its website, where it will be available for allcomers until the end of next month and maybe longer.

In software development lifecycle terms, a beta release contains all a program's final features, and quite possibly some bothersome bugs; a release candidate could be the final product, unless a bug of show-stopper proportions rears its head.

Making pre-release software available in this way is a ploy pioneered in the open source software world, where it makes perfect sense.

Users tend to be tech-savvy and can give useful feedback to the developers about features that work well and those that don't.

Microsoft professes to be doing it for the same reason. But although Windows 7's pre-release versions are being pitched at those with an IT bent, millions of curious, non-technical PC users are sure to give it a whirl - it is free, after all.

Without even being aware of it, they'll be providing Microsoft with a blow-by-blow account of their Windows 7 experience. Via a background process, Microsoft will collect information from Windows 7 PCs via the internet about the hardware it's running on, what programs are being used and what, if anything, causes it to crash.

The software company expects to end up with terabytes of data to analyse. It will then be used to fix any problems.

Undoubtedly there's a marketing motive as well. While Vista, Windows 7's predecessor, has its shortcomings, its poor uptake was at least partly due to the bad rap it got from early users. Their gripes, once they were spread all over the internet, cemented Vista's reputation as a dud.

If Microsoft can generate some positive pre-release Windows 7 internet buzz, that should lessen the chance of another flop. It could backfire, of course, if it is buggy and people don't like using it.

The new operating system isn't a radical revision in the way Vista was.

Opening shotThe first operating system to use the Windows name - Windows 1.0 - was announced in 1983 and went on sale in 1985. It was originally named "Interface Manager", until Bill Gates was persuaded that "Windows" might be more marketable.

Rather, Microsoft has tackled the bits of Vista that users hate.

The thing they will be most thankful for is a change to Vista's "user access control" feature, which Ben Green, head of Microsoft New Zealand's Windows group, says has been toned down in Windows 7. "What user access control did was grey out the screen and prompt you if you were doing something that might have a security consequence. We introduced it because we wanted to deliver a more secure operating system. But the feedback was it was too disruptive."

It's still in Windows 7 but no longer greys out the whole screen.

The new OS is also easier to customise than Vista, no longer requiring the user to have system administrator rights. "There are lots of nice things in there for personalising your computer because that is what people do."

Although anyone can, Green doesn't suggest every Windows user should download the new OS. "They need to have a reasonable degree of capability and interest." And it is recommended that they not install it on their main work or home PC to avoid being left in the lurch if it stops working.

The Microsoft website pitches the release candidate at "partners, IT pros and tech enthusiasts", with good reason. While it can be installed directly on a PC running Windows Vista, those machines are in the minority.

"If you're a Vista user, it's not a disruptive upgrade at all," Green says.

But for PCs running Windows XP - even if they have Windows 7's recommended minimum specifications of 1GB of RAM and a 1GHz processor - installing Windows 7 is more of a mission.

There are a couple of other issues to be aware of. At 2.5GB, it's not a trivial download. And it doesn't last forever.

From March 1 next year, the release candidate will shut down your PC every two hours, and from June 1 it will stop working altogether. At that point you'll have to either reinstall your old operating system or fork out $200 or so for a Windows 7 licence, expected to be on sale in January 2010.

If you're still intent on installing the release candidate, be mindful that, in Microsoft's words, you have joined "the journey to Windows 7". We all know that journeys can take us over roads strewn with potholes. It may be safer to leave the driving to the pros.

Anthony Doesburg is an Auckland technology journalist