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Windows 7 updates next week: Don't get too excited

By | February 20, 2009, 7:52am PST

Summary: Starting on February 24, Microsoft is planning to roll out test updates for Beta 1 users. As explained on the Microsoft Update Product Team blog, these updates are simply designed to test the Windows servicing infrastructure.

Speaking of what Microsoft is and isn’t sharing with Windows 7 testers, starting on February 24, Microsoft is planning to roll out test updates for Beta 1 users.

As explained on the Microsoft Update Product Team blog, these updates are simply designed to test the Windows servicing infrastructure. They won’t provide any new features, fixes or functionality for Windows 7.

From the February 19 Microsoft Update blog post:

“We do typically verify update scenarios during a Beta, and releasing these test updates will help ensure that when we need to release real updates, the process will run smoothly. There will be at most five updates….

“The updates will be offered interactively. This means that users will be notified of available updates, but they won’t install automatically. Users will need to go to the Windows Update control panel and manually start installation. They will also be clearly titled as a test update. If you don’t want to install the updates then you can right click on each update and select ‘Hide update’ to prevent it from being shown in the list of available updates.”

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Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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RE: Windows 7 updates next week: Don
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
I severely appeal that which you wrote, nfljerseys as I am by any means days attempting to get out a a few means of thinking about complications.
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This seems incredibly stupid
chrome_slinky@... 20th Feb 2009
since there have to be many PCs in the halls of Redmond running, or dual booting this OS. It seems like something that can be handled by a LAN rather than the internet. That is, unless Microsoft has made patching an interactive process.

"This update, that you're allowing, will probably make your system FUBAR. Do you wish to proceed?"

Oops, no, I didn't realize that. I'll stop now.

"Thanks for allowing us to waste your time with useless, and possibly destructive operations. You may now resume your life. We are watching."
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The purpose of a Beta is ....
ShadeTree 20th Feb 2009
... to test it. Testing all the mechanisms is very important.
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Exactly
davisnewman 20th Feb 2009
Those who do not want to be part of a test should not download or install betas.
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What a coincidence!
MGP2 20th Feb 2009
"Thanks for allowing us to waste your time with useless, and possibly destructive operations. You may now resume your life. We are watching."

Most people here feel the exact same way about your posts. Don't let the virtual door hit you in the face, er ass, or whatever that thing is holding your lips, on the way out.
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Update you have when not having one...
graham.lv 20th Feb 2009
So, I take it they are 5 'dummy' updates? That's OK I guess, as I am a dummy. What...do they just contain 'APRIL FOOL' or something for testing?

How big are they? I don't want more than 5K each of download junk.

I already had to manually get the 'clipped MP3 - NO' update.

Don't see the point of testing 'auto updates' if you have to go and get them? Isn't that just testing if you can download something?
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life as we know it..
theywould 20th Feb 2009
www.plugintothesmartgrid.com
0 Votes
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keeper's
theywould 20th Feb 2009
www.energyhog.org

www.LA411.COM

LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES
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It's to help test Microsofts Windows servicing infrastructure. I chose to
beta test Windows 7 as I have tested their other OSes(besides other
software betas) and because I choose to beta test, I try to throw
everything at these betas to make the software a better product.

p.s. I'll say it, as always, "I've never met a beta I didn't like." wink
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24th today i see no updates
chronic8000@... 24th Feb 2009
24th today, i just done windows update on build 7022 windows 7 and nothing yet. Will keep posted
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I probably won't be able to update as it will most likely take longer than the five minutes windows runs on my system before BSODing!
I had a problem with Windows 7 that whenever i played a YouTube video it started playing until i made it full screen which made my pc lock up completely and there was nothing I could do to bring it round. It seemed the PC was still running though as the hard drive activity light was still flashing. I put this down to bad drivers in the end as when I re-installed I let Windows update get all the drivers and I have not had a single problem since. Seems even drivers that worked under Vista do not always work under Windows 7. Also its the 28th today and I still see no sign of any "test updates" pushed to my 7 installation, either by automatic updates or by manual updates.
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I downloaded the updates and they have not caused any problems. I am running an old AMD system that windows does not like. Win7 complains that the boot takes too too long. Most of the problems were with the Video card and drivers. But even with all of the problems I still like win7. I will have to run both winXP and win7 in order to run my old equipment that lacks windows Vista drivers.
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Windows 7 seems to like old PC's more than Vista
chronic8000@... 28th Feb 2009
I installed Windows 7 on an old AMD Athlon XP 1600+, 768mb ram, old graphics card and only a 20gb hard drive and it runs better than XP ever did. I tried an installation of Windows Vista on the same machine and it wouldn't even install it. I have had no trouble with drivers for older hardware with Windows 7 build 7022 as Windows Update managed to pick up all of them. It seems Microsoft have worked alot on drivers with the 7022 build of 7.
They blindly (or at least very sight-impairedly) followed sexy lingerie Google's pathetic business model based on advertising,
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RE: Windows 7 updates next week: Don
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
I severely appeal that which you wrote, nfljerseys as I am by any means days attempting to get out a a few means of thinking about complications.

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