The New Year has arrived, it is still unusually cold in Cambridge, and I've downloaded the Windows 7 Beta.

I decided to try an upgrade from a spare Vista x64 SP1 installation, with development tools (VS2k7, SQL2k8, Office2k7, TFS PowerTools, Resharper, Oslo bits, Flash CS4), and my usual utility set (MagicDisk, 7Zip, Feeddemon, BBC iPlayer, Live Messenger, Live Writer, Acrobat amongst others).

Only hiccup to start with was the long-standing "you have to remove PowerShell before you can upgrade" problem. It is hidden in the Windows Features bit of the Programs control panel applet, and needs its box unchecking. After that, it started the loooong process of backing up my programs and settings, the relatively quick installing of the Windows bits, and another looooong process of putting my programs and settings back.

On the plus side, it did actually work; everything is just fine at the other end of it, and my desktop is still recognizably my desktop.

Only a couple of minor gripes in the upgrade process - it would have been nice if it had defaulted to putting my Sidebar gadgets on the right of the screen in the order they were when they were forced to be docked there, rather than sort of splatting them in the top left of the screen. It could also have looked at what I had in the quick launch bar, and pinned them to the Task Bar for me.

As for the OS itself - well, it is a heck of a lot more polished and stable than the bits we got at PDC; in fact, this is one of the best Windows Betas I've ever seen (so far). It knocks Windows 2000 Beta 1, Windows XP Beta 1 and Windows Vista Beta 1 (redux) into a cocked hat for "feeling finished". I'm particularly pleased to see that Messenger supports the Jumplist feature already.

There's a slight disappointment in that Google Chrome is completely non-functional (even from the current Dev branch). Windows does warn you about it, though, with its standard "incompatible application" dialog.

The major disappointment is that they have gone ahead and tuned down UAC to the point where it is a waste of time. Job 1 is to go and crank it back up to 11, unless you are the kind of person who enjoys inflicting evil on us all. (And, BTW, for all those Mac Users who claim that their version of same technology is any less intrusive, I'd beg to differ...not only does it seem that I have to click a button, but I have to type my password in too. I can, of course, cut down on the amount of typing by just leaving it unlocked...but that's just as bad as turning the security off!)

Anyway, the Beta will be there for everyone to enjoy/hate/love any day now. Happy New Year.