Upgrading From Windows 7 RC To Final

Thousands of users are already testing the release candidate of Windows 7. Many make use of virtualization techniques or dual / triple boot systems to be able to test the release candidate without affecting their main operating system. Some on the other hand have been bold enough to install Windows 7 RC as their main operating system. A big question for those users is if it will be possible to upgrade the release candidate build of Windows 7 to a final build without losing data in the process.

The only official indicator that upgrading from Windows 7 release candidate to Windows 7 final will be possible can be found in the Engineering Windows 7 blog post about upgrading from beta to release candidate. You might remember the post as it gives instructions on how to override the upgrade protection. One of the last sentences of that article is the following:

These same steps will be required as we transition from the RC milestone to the RTM milestone.

The steps that were outlined for upgrading the Windows 7 beta release to release candidate were the following:
» Download the ISO as you did previously and burn the ISO to a DVD.
» Copy the whole image to a storage location you wish to run the upgrade from (a bootable flash drive or a directory on any partition on the machine running the pre-release build).
» Browse to the sources directory.
» Open the file cversion.ini in a text editor like Notepad.
» Modify the MinClient build number to a value lower than the down-level build. For example, change 7100 to 7000 (pictured below).
» Save the file in place with the same name.
» Run setup like you would normally from this modified copy of the image and the version check will be bypassed.

It is furthermore very likely that the rtm build of Windows 7 will be distributed with the build number 7200. An upgrade from release candidate to rtm build would therefor require the modification of the MinClient build number from 7200 to 7100 or lower. This would in theory mean that it could also be possible to upgrade Windows 7 Beta to Windows 7 RM using the same procedure.

Updated from Martin Brinkmann (Windows7news)

Windows XP Compatibility Mode

Remember the bag of surprises that one Microsoft executive mentioned a few weeks ago (Major Windows 7 Announcements upcoming) ? Everyone was speculating from that point on which included final release date predictions to major interface changes. One of the things that most interested users did not think of was the introduction of the Windows XP compatibility mode in Windows 7 which will be included in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate.

You may be asking why this is considered a major feature: It basically adds Windows XP compatibility to Windows 7 meaning that companies do not have to fear that their applications will not run in Windows 7 if they are working fine in Windows XP. This can be a huge incentive for companies to make the switch to Windows 7.

Paul Thurrott provides an in depth description of the feature:

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.) XPM works much like today’s Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

The interesting aspect here is that the applications will run on the same single desktop. This is good for the end user who can concentrate working on one computer system. Microsoft can now not only claim full compatibility to Windows Vista but also to Windows XP which should make a huge difference in the perception of the new operating system.

Updated from Martin Brinkmann (Windows7news)

Windows 7 Security

One interesting article and one video detailing Windows 7 security concepts where posted yesterday. The article “Windows 7: A New Approach to Securing Today?s Enterprise” [link] lists some of the new (some are actually old) security features for mobile and remote workers.

Mobile Workers:
DirectAccess lets mobile workers connect quickly and securely to a corporate network over any Internet connection, without having to manually access their virtual private network. IT can leverage DirectAccess to manage the Group Policy settings and deliver updates to mobile computers, even if the user is not logged on.
BitLocker, introduced in Windows Vista, now allows end users to right-click on a drive to quickly enable it, making it more intuitive and easier to use.
BitLocker To Go now extends support of BitLocker drive encryption to USB removable storage devices ? like our mobile worker?s flash drive (see this Springboard Series Video). Theft and loss of proprietary data from mobile devices is a great expense for businesses. However, the loss of integrity is even harder to recover.

Remote Workers:
AppLocker: We received feedback that workers today put software from home on their PCS, download applications from the Internet, and access programs through email. As a result, there?s a higher difficulty ensuring PCs in the enterprise environment are running only approved, licensed software. AppLocker solves this issue; it?s an administered mechanism that allows a business? security expert to specify what is allowed to run on each user?s PC.
Network Access Protection: This allows IT Pros to create solutions to validate computers that connect to their network and limit the access or communication of noncompliant computers.
Microsoft Asset Inventory Service: Part of Microsoft Desktop Optimization, complements the OS security and compliance technologies by allowing our IT Pro a comprehensive view of the enterprise desktop software environment.
User Account Control: We heard loud and clear that end-users wanted fewer UAC prompts and more control over what items they are prompted for, but we know IT Pros still need control over what?s installed or run on a machine. As a result, in Windows 7, we made specific changes to enhance the user experience, while still ensuring the same level of security.

updated from Martin Brinkmann (windows7news)