Microsoft has solved its server problems and the first beta of the next OS, Windows 7, is again available for download.The first beta of Windows 7 was announced by Steve Ballmer during his CES keynote and on Friday it was made available for public download on Microsoft’s site.

 

But few hours later, fue to the heavy traffic, Microsoft’s servers went down and the company decided to pull out the beta and to add additional infrastructure support in order to handle the traffic.

 

Now, according to a post, on Windows 7 blog, the beta is again available. In order to install and run Windows 7, you need a PC which satisfies the following technical specs:  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 and      Internet access (to download the Beta and get updates).

 

According to Microsoft, the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Beta is available in five languages: English, German, Japanese, Hindi, and Arabic while the 64-bit version is available in English, German, Japanese, and Arabic.

 

Also Windows 7 Beta is available for a limited time, to the first 2.5 million people who download the software. This version of Windows 7 expires on August 1, 2009.

 

So far Windows 7, which can be described as a Windows Vista with better features, has had  positive reviews. First and foremost, the new operating system was designed to deliver the experience the user wants, in terms of performance, reliability, compatibility, battery life and so on. For users, this will mean less frustration and compatibility complaints than in Vista, and more time to actually do what they need to do.

 

Secondly, Windows 7 was intended to make tasks faster and easier to complete, and help users get around an interface that used to be extremely crowded, but is now simple to navigate through. Windows 7 comes with new features, such as Jumplist, Previews and the new Taskbar.

Windows 7 also comes with a new Home Group that makes it easier for consumers to connect multiple home PCs together to share printers and access files, music, photos and videos, Microsoft said.  

 

In addition to that, the new operating system also comes with a multi-touch interface, so don’t forget to buy a touch-screen monitor if you want to experience it to the full.

 

As far as the entertainment goes, Microsoft promised an enhanced experience, with access to more digital media, turning the personal computer into the center of their electronic experience.

 

Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center now offer support for more media formats, while the “Play-to” feature allows the streaming of music, video and photos to devices in a home network.

 

However, Microsoft did not release a roadmap for Windows 7 and for the moment it is believed that the final version could be launched in late 2009 or early 2010.

 

Windows 7 will be also the first Windows after Bill Gates resigned for his day-to-day duties at Microsoft.