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The Windows 7 build that PDC attendees will be given is M3 Pre-Beta build 6801. The exact build string is yet to be determined, but after doing some digging around, I think I've found it: Build 6801.winmain_win7m3.081020-1655
Now, just where in the world did I pull that build string from? The back of a milk carton? My butt? The Windows dev building in Redmond (I wish, lol)? Nawwwww. Microsoft threw some security updates on their site for Windows 7 a few days ago, so I downloaded them and checked out the build version of the DLL the updates replace (netutils.dll). This is the version as it exists in the DLL: 6.1.6801.4107 (winmain_win7m3.081020-1655)
For those of you who aren't familiar with Microsoft's build string terminology, the string reads as follows: Windows 7 M3 (Milestone 3) Build 6801 compiled in the WinMain lab on October 20, 2008 at 4:55 PM (081020-1655)
Even more interesting is that they provided a security update for three versions of the Windows 7 Pre-Beta (click each one to be taken to the download pages):
Windows 7 Pre-Beta (x86)
Windows 7 Pre-Beta x64 Edition
Windows 7 Pre-Beta for Itanium-based Systems
So, does that mean that PDC attendees will be receiving all of those versions? Perhaps! Something else left to be determined is if build 6801 will contain all SKUs or just Enterprise.
Now, something else worth noting is the following: Build 6919.fbl_fun_diag_dev(gaurava).080118-1456
That build was compiled 9 months prior to this 6801 build and is over 100 builds higher!!! This is no surprise to those of us who are familiar with the fact that not all the build labs follow the same build time line but it's interesting to know that builds were compiled in January with that high of a build string. Oh yeah, I pulled that one out of my butt. lol. Only kidding. Seriously, though, I pulled that build string from another DLL provided by Microsoft for Windows 7 in relation to printing issues (DiagPackage.dll). You can find it here: "This troubleshooting pack detects and fixes the printer problems on Windows 7"
Well, that's all for now! Off to pack for PDC and make last-minute preperations prior to flying out tomorrow. Don't forget to keep up with my PDC 2008 Blog! Much, much more to come very, very soon. =)
-Stephen
3 comments:
Since when do they provide non-Server builds for Itanium? :-O
Stephen, considering the new way Windows 7 has been managed and created (only shipping quality code added to the build) will this beta release be already usable enough to use as your main OS?
I know compatibility is the main focus but does that mean all Vista compatible applications will run fine?
Rhys: Beats me!
Conundrum: Well... I'm not exactly at liberty to say what I would like to say but through personal experience, I will be using it as my main OS on my test box at home. I wouldn't use it without having a backup drive to pull my data from that I wouldn't want to lose but Windows 7 > Vista with performance. By far. More on this either tomorrow or tuesday on my PDC blog. =)
-Stephen
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