• Google Chrome Browser
• Google Earth
• Google Toolbar for IE
• Norton Security Scan
• Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
• Google Desktop
• Picasa
• Google Photos Screensaver
• Adobe Reader
• Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar
• Google Talk
• Skype
• RealPlayer

The problem of course being that if you are using Windows 7 and go to the Google Pack website at http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html you will see the following error: “Google Pack requires Windows XP or Vista”

Well we wont a little thing keep us from getting our Google Pack goodness on Windows 7.  First we need to do a little impersonation using Firefox.  First go download and install Firefox 3 if you haven’t already installed it at: http://www.getfirefox.com

Once that is setup you need to download the User Agent Switcher plugin at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

Once that is installed open up Firefox

Go to Tools –> User Agent Switcher –> Internet Explorer 7 (Windows Vista)

Now go to http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html and you will see the error message is gone.  You can now choose which software you want to install.

Choose which packages you want to install and then click Download Now

You will see a recap of the packages that you have chosen to install and click Agree and Download.

You will now get a notice that you are about to download Google Updater.exe, click on Save

Once it is finished downloading navigate to the location of Google Updater.exe.  Right click on the file and left click on Properties.

On the Properties page click on the Compatibility Tab and under Compatability mode select Run this program in compatibility mode for: and in the dropdown choose Windows Vista. 

Click Ok when done.

Double click on the Google Updater executable and then you will be asked to confirm that you want to run the file.

Confirm by clicking Run. If UAC is still enabled you will get a popup confirming you want to run it. You will now see Google Updater downloading your requested files.

Once the downloads finish the application will now install the requested software.

There you go, you can now run Google Updater and Google Pack software on Windows 7.

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• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1 GB of system memory
• 16 GB of available disk space
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)
• DVD-R/W Drive
• Internet access (to download the Beta and get updates)

Those are very similar to what was recommended for Vista and we know what kind of outcry went out in the world over performance even if it was slightly off mark.  So I wanted to see out of the box what the memory footprint was for each OS, nothing too scientific, just right after install I went into Task Manager and grabbed a shot of what the memory was at.  First up is Windows Vista Ultimate SP1, again right after basic install:

As you can see it is sitting ~471MB, which is at 43% of available memory.  Not too bad…

Lets see what Windows 7 Ultimate install is at right after startup :

Windows 7 is at ~295MB so that is at 25% of available memory which is a pretty significant difference from Vista without any tweaking.  It looks like at least so far into this Beta build 7000 they have indeed listened to the Vista criticism and responded. While I don’t think the Vista build was ever that sluggish on my laptop, I won’t complain about a slimmer operating system.

You should go ahead and give it a try!

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• Processor: 1Ghz 32-bit or 64-bit
• Memory: 1GB of System Memory
• Hard Drive: 16GB of available disk space
• Video Card: Support of DirectX 9 (Aero compatibility requires 128MB)
• Drive: DVD-R/W
• Internet: Required for updates

Pretty light requirements so this should run well on most systems.  I am seeing reports on Twitter that while running it is taking much less memory than Vista did, though I haven’t been able to take benchmarks yet myself.  Now that you know you have the right amount of hardware you need to go ahead and download the Windows 7 Beta software.  You can download the version you want from the link below:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx (Note: You will need to sign in with a Windows Live account)

Once you choose the version you want and fill out their contact form you will also receive a serial number, make sure you note that down for later.  After you download the Windows 7 ISO if you aren’t going to be testing using a virtual machine you will need to burn it to a DVD.  I wont go into to how to burn an ISO, because frankly if you don’t know how you probably shouldn’t be messing around with this beta.

WARNING!

This is a BETA you should not be installing this on a production machine or any other machine you care about the data.  Even if you do get it up and running as your primary machine remember this version expires on AUGUST 9th 2009 and you WILL NOT be able to upgrade to the RTM version from the beta so the machine will require a clean install when it is released. Whatever you choose to do BACKUP everything and don’t cry to me if you lose data… really… I won’t be able to help you…

Installing Windows 7 Beta

1) Go ahead and boot from your ISO and after a few seconds you should see the following screen:

Choose your settings from the drop down menu and click on Next to move forward.

2) Much like the Windows Vista & Server 2008 install at this point you have the big option of Install Now which you should click now to start the install.

3) You will see setup start then you will be presented with the licensing agreement you will need to accept by placing a check next to I accept the license terms

4) On the next screen you get the following options:

Upgrade: Upgrade to a newer version of Windows and keep your files, settings, and programs

Custom(advanced): Install a new copy of Windows

For this demo I am going to do a clean install so I am going to choose Custom, because per my warning above you shouldn’t be installing this on your primary machine.

5) Now we come to the disk options, as you can see I have an unformatted 16GB hard drive available for use.  In this screen shot I have already clicked the Disk(advanced) button so that is why you see options that you might not see right away.  I am not going to do anything here but use the 16GB, but if you wanted you could create a system and data drive or if you had multiple drives choose where you want to install the Windows 7 OS.  Again I am not going to go into this in too much depth because if you are going to play with this Beta you should now how to manage your disk drives.  Choose the drive you want to use and select Next.

6) At this point your install will start and you can monitor its progress

As you can see after it finished it does a restart, when it comes back up it will finish the install

7) Once it completes the installation you will be asked for the following:

Name: I am going to use Dave but feel free to use your own

Computer Name: Again, feel free to use something different from mine

Once you enter your value click on Next

Next comes to the security portion of the install.  You will be asked for the following:

Password: Like I would tell you guys!

Retype your password: Good try but I’m not giving it up!

Password Hint: Put in a hint that will point you to your password

After you input your information click Next

9) Hopefully you saved your license key from when you downloaded the beta software because now is the time to use it!  Go ahead and place your key where provided, then choose if you want it to activate when you are online next.

When you are done click on Next.

10) The next thing you need to configure is how you want to deal with updates.  There are several options:

Use recommended settings: Handle everything the Microsoft way and send info home when things go bad

Install important updates only: Only install security updates and other important updates

Ask me later: Go it alone in the cold cruel world… leave you open to possible exploits as you won’t get security patches as vulnerabilities are discovered

For this demo I am going to choose Use recommended settings, go ahead and choose yours

11) Ok, on to setting the time and time zone.  Choose your time zone from the drop down menu, then set the correct time and click Next.

12) The next option is to set the type of network you are connected to.  Since I am working off my home network, I am going to choose Home Network. The options you have are:

Home Network: You can participate in a homegroup and see other computers on the network

Work Network: You can not participate in a homegroup, but you can see other computers on the network

Public Network: You can not participate in a homegroup or access other computers on the network.  This is a setting you would use at your public Wifi spot at the coffee shop to keep the local hackers out of your computer.

Select your network type to continue.

13) Since I selected Home Network I am now being given an option to start a homegroup.  In this case I do not need that so I am going to select Skip. (Never fear, if you need homegroup info I will be covering that in an upcoming article.)

14) You will now see Windows 7 finalizing your installation

That’s it!  Congratulations and enjoy your Windows 7 Beta experience!

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