I have been using Windows 7 BETA for a little over a week and a half now and I have to say I definitely love it. I had a rough beginning with sound issues and stand-by issues, but I was able to clear it up pretty easily with a little help from Google. Install was a breeze as I used the Windows XP partition manager to carve out 30GB of space on my other hard drive. After downloading the .iso I used Virtual Clone Drive to mount the .iso and ran the .exe file. After about a half hour and a few reboots Windows 7 was completely installed.

The good:
Windows Aero – I love the new windows interface, eye candy without too much strain on resources.
Usable – My family was able to pick up the differences and accommodate them, although they still accidentally log me off or shut down without realizing.

The bad:
Still buggy – I know its still a BETA, but there are definite issues with logging off/ shutting down. This could be a problem with my hardware but I doubt it.

The ugly:
Nothing that shouldn’t be cleared up by launch time.

On January 29, the eve of the launch of its latest OS, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart! While it is taped earlier in the day, it won’t air until 11, only an hour before the Windows Vista launch. This should definately be one very interesting show.

With the launch of the latest music service and player, Microsoft has also released a new theme for Windows XP. The theme is black and orange and is very Vista like. You can get the new theme here, but for some reason there is a problem with the installer that leaves a few parts unskinned. That can be easily rectified by going to c:windowsresourcesthemeszune and create a folder called “Shell.” In the “Shell” folder create another folder called “NormalColor.” Then place the shellstyle.dll file in the zune theme folder into the “NormalColor” folder and reapply your theme. Enjoy!

After many complaints about the current licensing terms on Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to ease it a bit.

Originally the license read:

The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the licensed device.

It now reads:

You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device. You may use the software on up to two processors on that device at one time. Except as provided in the Storage and Network Use (Ultimate edition) sections below, you may not use the software on any other device.

Microsoft also revised the re-installation part of the license to read:

You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices

While the license still limits how many times you can install new devices and hardware, it is a lot better than only allowing one change, but will it be enough to satisfy PC enthusiasts?