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Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Windows 8 build 7959 - First 64-bit leak

By | May 3, 2011, 6:40am PDT

A few days ago a 64-bit Windows Server 8 build was leaked onto the internet and a number of you have been firing questions at me regarding this build.

Check out the Windows 8 build 7959 image gallery here!

OK, first a recap. This build (build 7979, with a compile date of March 7th, 2011) is the third Windows 8 build to leak (the previous builds were 7850 compiled September 10th, 2010 and build 7955, a much fresher build compiled on February 28th, 2011). This is the first 64-bit version to leak, and it also the first ‘Server’ version to leak.

Now, on first install there’s not much new to see in any of these builds, which is why folks (such as the industrious folks over on MyDigitalLife) have been hard at work figuring out how to unlock some of the hidden features contained in these releases. For example, in build 7955 there are tools and scripts available for unlocking all sorts of hidden features, ranging from the new Ribbon UI, PDF reader, Metro UI logon to a new Task Manager.

There’s lots of new stuff to play with in build 7955. So you’d think that there would be more to play with with, right? Well … it’s not that simple.

Because this latest build is a 64-bit release, and a server release at that, many of the tools and tricks don’t work on this latest build. What’s more, this build seems to lack some of the features of the 7955 build, making it only of interest to those wanting to play with 64-bit Windows.

Bottom line, thise latest leak is nowhere near as interesting as the previous leak. That said, roll on next leak!

… and no one ask me how to acquire these builds … if you don’t know, you’re not supposed to have them!

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Windows 8 build 7959 - First 64-bit leak
bApTizE 4th May 2011
i kissed windows 7 good bye, switched to linux fedora 15 and never looked back, everything i needed worked right off the box.
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Why they even have 32-bit versions anymore is beyond me. Their time and efforts would be better spent working on mobile ARM platforms.
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@Michael Kelly +1
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@Michael Kelly

Ms promised a new file system a couple of years before the arrival of Vista, in fact, it is was marketed as one of the significant changes with Vista . . . but it never arrived.
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Why do they work on 32-bit?
Michael Alan Goff 3rd May 2011
Good question.

It's answered, of course, by looking at the market. Guess which has the most share out of 32 bit/ 64 bit/ ARM in terms of overall users.
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@Michael Kelly

Windows Server is already 64-bit only - there's no 32-bit version of Windows Server 2008 R2. And there are many desktop and laptop models shipping today where the OEMs don't offer 32-bit. I'll bet many average consumers of PCs from Dell and HP are running 64-bit without even knowing it.
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RE: Windows 8 build 7959 - First 64-bit leak
Return_of_the_jedi 3rd May 2011
Ok, nice new coat of paint. Any word on a modern filesystem?
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@Return_of_the_jedi

Modern in terms of what?

NTFS file streams, encryption, compression, hardlinks, journaling, transactions, file change logging, online volume resizing, sparse files, junctions, mount points...

Every file system has its strengths and weaknesses and work better in some scenarios than others. For a highly reliable general purpose file system, NTFS is pretty darn good and is always evolving.
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RE: Windows 8 build 7959 - First 64-bit leak
Return_of_the_jedi Updated - 3rd May 2011
@Yensi717

"NTFS is pretty darn good ..."
Until you use something more modern.

I see you know very little about filesystems.

PS. You speak like a fanboi.
  • Flagged
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RE: Windows 8 build 7959 - First 64-bit leak
Michael Alan Goff 3rd May 2011
I would agree that NTFS isn't completely modern (isn't it at least 10 yrs old?), but I also don't see a need to change it. What would improve? Shutdown and Start-up are already nice with Windows 7, as are file operations.

What would be the point of changing filesystems other than to say they changed it? Wouldn't it be better to just try to make NTFS better?
  • Flagged
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@Return_of_the_jedi at least Yensi717 had some specifics to his post, whereas you're just throwing FUD. What would you like to see in NTFS that's not there?

Yensi doesn't sound like a "fanboi", but your lack of substance makes you sound like just another MSFT basher.
  • Flagged
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RE: Windows 8 build 7959 - First 64-bit leak
Alan Smithie Updated - 3rd May 2011
Give me a break, same old dull w95 GUI tarted up.
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Who cares? Windows 7 still needs work. Service pack 1 for Windows 7 64 bit caused programs that have always worked on Win7 but do not work with service pack 1. And IE9 for Windows 7 64 bit will not run on my computer without crashing constantly. Fix Windows 7 first!!!
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Amen, to the abortion called "Service Pack 1" The thousands and thousands of users who ran into any number of problems trying to install the SP-1. Microsoft really screwed up the installation process for SP-1. We can only hope and pray that the installation of SP-2 will work.
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@rdw551:
Win 7 still needs work. For sure. All O/S's do. I'm curious, though. My computer is almost 5 years old, only a dual-core, yet runs Win7 Sp1 and all my older programs (so many that it takes me about 18 hours to load on a new PC; none of them "games") with nary a problem. Which "games" are you having trouble with?
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Couldnt agree more with Goff256! Why change NTFS? The lawnmore aint broke, so keep your fingers out from under the blade cover, you know? Seriously though, NTFS is working fine, no idea why we'd want to change it, as Goff mentioned, other than to change it.

If there were a way to use file permissions to generate encrypted drives and encorporate that with a preboot environment that compiled encryption over an entire bootable drive and all other drives on say a mobile computer, before it allows login or even begins to boot, though that would be cool and would put some check point's and other encryption vendors in a bad place; but seems like it would be a one time proposition, to me. No I'm not trying to make a BitLocker reference and I have no idea how this would be done, but it would be cool if it would allow us to install the os, then set up encryption on the entire box that would synch with domain logins and prevent boot without a password. Havent seen the Server build yet. And, sorry if any of this rant didnt co-incide with what others have mentioned, have a good one.
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i kissed windows 7 good bye, switched to linux fedora 15 and never looked back, everything i needed worked right off the box.

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