Windows 7 is designed to make everyday tasks faster and easier, and make new things possible for end users. Windows 7 reflects an evolved approach to engineering that incorporates customer and partner feedback more closely into the development process. It will deliver innovative new features while focusing on application and device compatibility. With Windows 7, Microsoft is working to establish a more consistent and predictable release schedule so partners across the Windows ecosystem can easily and quickly build on the new capabilities Windows has to offer. When released to the market, Windows 7 will enable the following:

• Work the way you want. Windows 7 will deliver the fundamental performance, reliability and security features that people expect — and it is designed to be compatible with the same hardware, applications and device drivers as Windows Vista. New features will help protect privacy and data, make it easier to keep a PC running smoothly, and enable quicker recovery from problems.

• Make everyday tasks faster and easier. Windows 7 will streamline and simplify the tasks people do most often. Improved navigation, a new taskbar and a streamlined user interface put commonly used resources within easy reach. Sharing data across all PCs and devices will be easier at home, in the office or on the go. Windows 7 and Windows Live will help users stay connected to the people and things they care about, and Internet Explorer 8 will offer a faster, safer and more productive Web experience.

• Make new things possible. Windows 7 will offer more choice in how users interact with their PCs, such as through multitouch gestures. With Device Stage, Windows 7 enables people to get more from the devices they use most often with their PC, such as cameras, phones and printers. Windows 7 also will make it easier to use home audio-video systems and other networked media devices to play music, watch videos and display photos that reside on Windows-based PCs. And Windows 7 will offer more options than ever to customize and personalize Windows-based PCs with styles that match the user’s personality.

32-Bit ISO
64-Bit ISO
Windows 7 Beta Keys

Important! -- Apply the MP3 Fix
MP3 Fix:
32-Bit | 64-Bit

Didn't take long for the public beta to come out, anyone tried it yet? is it worth getting?

I will be trying it out on my laptop -- will report my findings

Update:
Given all the recent reviews that have been going round that say that Windows 7 works better than XP I decided to try it out on my old laptop. The specs are as follows:
Dell Inspiron 8600
-512MB Ram
-128mb Ati Mobility Radeon 9700 Pro Turbo
-Dell 802.11B/G Wireless card
-40GB 5400rpm hdd

Install Time (from press any key to enter setup screen to the windows 7 desktop) 29 minutes -- Thats quite an impressive time.

Several drivers were not found however Windows update brought down drivers for my Graphics card and sound chipset.

Leaving me with no drivers for my Modem, Wireless card and IR port.

Update2: managed to get an XP driver for my wireless card which is working fine -- quite surprised that some XP drivers work with 7 - and a Vista driver for the IR port -- not really too fussed about the modem.

Interesting note - Windows 7 created a special system partition 200mb during installation -- not sure what this is used for

Im now running Aero and it definatly seems to run a lot faster than Windows Vista -- quite impressed. So far I have installed Winrar, Office 2007 and JRE 6.

I will note that IE8 seems a bit sluggish however it felt the same in the Windows XP/Vista previews -- one of the reasons I ended up uninstalling it.

Windows 7 supports http proxy authentication for windows update -- something that Vista RTM did not.

I understand that it runs pretty good (even with aero) on Waynes old laptop that used to run XP, I think its about 4 years old.

IE8 seems to run a lot better if search suggestions are disabled

Daemon tools does not work with Windows 7 -- but there are several free alternatives that do.

I used the upgrade feature of Windows 7 to see how well it would transfer all my settings and documents from my old vista installation. I also installed

windows on my laptop like DW

Here are the specs:

Dell Inspiron 9300
RAM: 1.25 GB
CPU: Intel Centrino M 1.25Ghz
GFX: Ati X300 128MB
HDD: 80GB 5400rpm

The installation took over an hour and a half.

The most time was taken up with the compatability check this took about 10 or so minutes to complete but im assuming on more grunty machines the time

will be much less.

Depending on how many files you have on your pc (mine had 32GB worth of stuff) the gathering of these files can take a considerable amout of time.

One thing I do like about the install screen is that it tells you its progress unlike the vista install box this actually shows numerical values such as

1571 of 2245 MB copied which is much more useful then watching a bar go across the screen

After installation all documents settings and programs seem to be working fine and it is performing much better than vista so far.

Formatted and installed on my main computer.

Core 2 duo 6300
2 gig ram
256 graphics (Asus 7900gs)
Asus P5b mobo.

Install was quick and drivers for everything were installed out of the box. Does seem more responsive than Vista though it could just be Placebo effect.

Cant sign into MSN Messenger but i've had that problem before and think its more to do with the firewall on my router (just need to remember how to fix it).

So far so good.

I must say I don't really like the new method of pinning stuff to your taskbar. It seems too confusing to me. I always feel like I have windows Media player and IE8 open. I have a feeling that this may confuse novice users.

Hows the performance in games?

Just installed on a new partition, took around 25 minutes from putting the disc in to being on the desktop.

AMD X2 3800+ 2.0GHz
2GB ram (533mhz)
7600GS 256mb

Going to install steam and see how some games play on this crappy card compared to vista.