A new build of Windows 7 (build 7048 – 64bit only) is making the rounds on torrent sites, and since I haven’t booted into my own installation of it for a month or so, I figured I’d see what the new one has to offer. Some folks are calling it RC1 (Release Candidate), but others are saying it’s just another beta release. I’m with the latter set – I think it’s still too early in Microsoft’s cycle to start locking Windows 7 down. You never know though.. the Windows 7 keys that are out there now expire in August.

I think 7048 actually took longer to install than 7000 (the ‘public’ beta). From the time I put the DVD in to the time that I booted into Windows, it was a bit over 30 minutes. I remember 7000 taking around 20 minutes.

There aren’t an incredible number of new features to report, and other folks have already done a more complete job. All I’ll add:

• Uninstalling IE8 completely was surprisingly comprehensive (2 reboots?? wow) but satisfying.
• Creative finally broke down and released beta drivers for Windows 7. Thank goodness – I can now listen to my expensive 5.1 sound system in Windows 7.
• On my system, Windows 7 insists upon messing with (and breaking) my BCD (Boot Configuration Data) file, so it’s necessary to use something like Vista Boot Pro to remedy this. No huge deal, but it’s annoying.

I’ll continue to play with the installation. I’d love to switch over completely from Vista – on my main boot drive (32GB: smaller, but very fast and RAID-0), the WinSXS directory is just over 15GB. That’s in addition to the Windows directory itself, and Program Files.