Reviewing the first beta of an important release like Windows 7 is never an easy job to do. A confouding factor is that many people have already made up their mind about Windows 7; not because they have tried it, but because it's a Microsoft product, and therefore it sucks. At OSNews we try to judge products by their own merits, not by the parent company that created it. Read on for a set of impressions regarding the Windows 7 beta.
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RE[2]: Regarding the MBR...
Member since:2005-09-06
Why are you defending Microsoft's stance that they control the MBR and can tell everyone what to put on it, and how to?
I am surprised they have not been sued over it yet, and I wish they would for how annoying it is to fix it every time that messy windows guy comes back to my house.
Member since:2008-04-15
It's not a bug when all microsoft wants is a licenced copy of windows on your box, they don't care about you wanting ubuntu too.
either load up a live cd and install grub
or
load up a windows cd and use fixmbr i think it was or the vista repair tools.
dual booting isn't a common requested feature and as far as the general user and MS is concerned, they don't give a crap about what you want to do with your MBR.
Member since:2005-12-02
"When I install Windows, or any other OS, I give it permission to use a certain part of the disk, partition Abc. The MBR is NOT part of that permission, and as such, I never granted Windows the permission to put its filthy paws all over the MBR. The MBR should not be touched by anything unless I specifically grant something permission to do so."
I agree with you in the context that it should ask before changing something. However, you have to remember that you as well as most of the readers on this site are a minority of Windows users. The majority is Joe Blow, who is generally the purchaser of the retail copies off store shelves. Can you imagine the calls to the support center?
User: "I just installed Windows XX and it will not boot"
Support: "Did you set the options to install into the MBR?"
User: "The what? No, I rebooted the machine with the DVD in the drive, and the install went fine. Now it doesn't boot"
Get the idea? The requirements of the few..those of us who read sites like this, are nothing compared to the majority of the users who do not, and could really care less.
Member since:2006-08-15
Member since:2007-03-06
But they could reuse the currently installed bootloader (at least if it's a windows bootloader) instead of overwriting it and screwing your old windows ability to boot if you happen to remove the new one.
Just assume that windows might not be installed on a clean computer and go on from there.
Member since:2007-07-13
Incorrect. Very few copies of Windows are sold at retail relative to OEM licenses. Users get their Windows pre-installed when they buy a computer. It is the clever folk on this site that install Windows themselves, and are rather likely to have other versions of Windows or real operating systems as well.
Face it, Windows MBR handling is early 90's technology and they don't care enough about their users to do anything about it.
If the rumours are true and Microsoft will shed 17,000 of their 90,000 staff I hope the remainder wake up and focus on their customer's needs again, rather solely on Microsoft's corporate goals.
Member since:2007-08-22
It's called a default setting. Linux distros handle this very well. They choose a safe default that will work, and let you override it if you choose. Microsoft could do the same thing. Either way, it works out of the box, and Joe Blow knows no difference.
That said, Apple is guilty of the same thing with their Darwin/OpenDarwin, at least version 7 assumed that all you wanted on the system was Darwin/OpenDarwin and thus would then try to format your hard drive as they decided it should be. No option to override provided. Your only other choice was to not install Darwin/OpenDarwin. I don't know if they've corrected that in newer versions; likely since they now support full dual booting with at least Windows, but it wouldn't surprise me either if they hadn't.
Member since:2005-11-06
Member since:2005-11-10
Member since:
2005-06-29
Besides the point, but yes, it actually does. It always renders the first-to-be-installed Windows version in a Windows multiboot setup unbootable. Steps to reproduce:
Install Windows Xyz
Install Windows Xyz+1
Remove Windows Xyz+1
Windows Xyz will not boot.
100% reproducible. I'll let you figure out on your own why this is the case.
Nonsense.
When I install Windows, or any other OS, I give it permission to use a certain part of the disk, partition Abc. The MBR is NOT part of that permission, and as such, I never granted Windows the permission to put its filthy paws all over the MBR. The MBR should not be touched by anything unless I specifically grant something permission to do so.
So yes, this is a bug.
Edited 2009-01-04 22:53 UTC