14 DAY TRIAL // With the advent of the first public Beta bits of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft also released a range of resources designed to streamline testing. Among them is the Knowledge Base article for the service pack. KB 976932, which went live a tad later following the availability of SP1 Beta on July 12, provides general information about the upgrade, including details about support, download links, expiration date, etc.
“Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 is now available. SP1 Beta is an update to Windows 7 and to Windows Server 2008 R2 that addresses customer and partner feedback. SP1 Beta contains previously released fixes that cover specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues,” Microsoft stated.
Since Windows 7 SP1 Beta is still in development, Microsoft is not providing any sort of support for the release. Early adopters that decide to test drive the release will be pretty much on their own. Of course, Windows 7 SP1 Beta is by no means designed for deployment into production environments, but rather for testing only. Some support will however be available via TechNet forums.
“Microsoft does not provide telephone or email support for this beta release,” the company noted. “This early release of SP1 Beta for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 is not available for home users. SP1 Beta does not provide new end-user features. We do not recommend that home users install SP1 Beta.”
An important detail related to Windows 7 SP1 Beta is the fact that the upgrade is time bombed. Even though the service pack itself will end up being available for free, users will only get to run the Beta development milestone until June 30, 2011, approximately a year from now.
“SP1 Beta is time-limited software. You must uninstall this service pack beta software before you install the final version of the service pack. Also, this beta software will no longer operate after June 30, 2011. You must uninstall this beta software before that date. If you install SP1 Beta, we strongly recommend that you also install the final version of the service pack when it is released. To do this, you must first uninstall this prerelease software,” the software giant explained.
Early adopters testing Windows 7 SP1 Beta will notice that, after installation, their copy of Windows 7 will display information indicating that the OS they are running is an evaluation version. This will happen even if Windows 7 was genuine and activated before integration SP1 Beta.
“After you install SP1 Beta, your desktop may display the following text: Evaluation copy. This text does not mean that your system is no longer "Genuine." This text indicates only that you installed a test version of software that is time limited,” Microsoft said. “The "Evaluation copy" text may also be displayed on the second startup after you install the service pack. The "Evaluation Copy" text may be displayed on first startup after you uninstall the service pack. However, this text will not appear after the next startup.”
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta are available for download here.
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