I have a few questions about windows 7 beta.? -

i am thinking about installing the beta version of windows 7, but i have a few questions before i do. --if i do an upgrade installation, can i revert to vista once the beta runs out? like, instead of having to completely format my memory by using the restore disk that came with my pc, can i just do some simple step to revert to vista (and keep all the files that are currently on my pc)? --by installing the beta, wil all the files currently on my pc go away (will my hard-drive be formatted)? --will programs supported on vista run on windows 7? --is it worth it to install it?

No - you won t be able to go back simply to your older operating system once you opt to upgrade; the upgrade process takes longer than a fresh installation of Windows 7 and things can go wrong. If you are serious about trying out Win7, the first thing you should do is to create a mirror image backup of your current pc as it is today and back up either to dvd or to an external hard drive. Vista Business and Ultimate come with this kind of back up software - if you have Home Basic or Premium, use a free tool such as Macrium reflect free http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp you can create a recovery cd - you boot from this to restore your back up image and once restored, your pc comes back as if nothing has happened. Once you have a backup image, you can then decide either to do a fresh install (and wipe out your present Vista configuration) or dual boot Vista and Win7 You can find many guides on how to do this http://lifehacker.com/5126781/how-to-dua... Another option is to run Windows 7 inside your Vista machine as a virtual machine using, for example, a free tool such as Virtualbox http://www.virtualbox.org/ How to: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2009... I am running Win7 as a virtual machine on a Toshiba laptop running Vista Business - it s working well and I have had no problems running software that I used on Vista. BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP!

Hello cjconner- My name is Jeff and I work with the Windows Outreach Team. Zoomjet has answered your question very well and the only point he didn’t hit on was your question about compatibility. In theory, if a program can work on Vista, it will work on Windows 7. Note though that this is a Beta and there are bound to be exceptions to this rule of thumb. In the future if you come across any technical questions regarding Windows 7, take a look at the Windows 7 TechNet forum. It is a solid resource for finding solutions to error codes, where to find certain drivers, or find answers to a problem you may come across. Here is the link to this forum. Good luck and thank you for trying Windows 7. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Foru... Best, Jeff Windows Outreach Team