Last week, Microsoft made the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) available for the public to download and try for a year (the RC expires on June 1, 2010). I decided to take the plunge and try it out figuring that it couldn’t be any worse off then my current Windows Vista.

I’m going to take a minute and lay out the steps I took so that if you would like to test it as well, some of the things I did to prepare might be of some worth to you.

• Review the hardware requirements to see if your system will run Windows7. Microsoft suggests the following minimum requirements:
  

  A PC for testing that meets these minimum system requirements (specific to Windows 7 RC and subject to change in the final version of Windows 7):
  • 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
  • 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
  • DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

• Make a BACKUP!  I cannot stress this enough. Unless you don’t care to lose anything on your PC, I highly suggest backing up your PC to an external hard drive or some online backup service. I went an extra step and copied my important documents to one external drive, backed up my PC to another external drive and also saved my last backup on my HP MediaSmart Home Server. All this took about 2-3 hours but I now have peace of mind knowing my files are safe and nothing will get lost.
• If you like, you can download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta. This program from Microsoft will scan your system and attempt to identify any potential compatibility issues that your system might experience.
• Download the Windows 7 RC file from Microsoft’s website. Make sure you download the file that matches your system (32-bit or 64-bit). Don’t be fooled by emails offering links to download the installation files. Windows 7 RC is free so there’s no need not to go to Microsft’s site to download the file.
• Create an installation DVD to run the installation from. The download is an ISO file and the file can easily be copied to a blank DVD.
• Decide if you want to do a clean install (choose to have the installation program format the hard drive) or upgrade from your current OS. As much as I wanted to do a clean install, I chose to do the upgrade from Windows Vista Ultimate so that I wouldn’t have to reinstall all my programs.
• Insert the DVD into your DVD-rom and it should autostart on its own and bring up the installation menu. (If for some reason it doesn’t start right away, you can refer to the Windows 7 installation instructions here).
• Windows 7 will start installing on your computer!  Since I chose the upgrade from my previous Windows Vista Ultimate, my upgrade took 3+ hours. I believe the average install time on a clean system is roughly over an hour.

So far, I have been very pleased with the stability and new features. I have had a few small issues which I will write about soon but nothing that I haven’t found an easy fix for.

If all goes well over the next week or so, I will install Windows 7 on my desktop so that I can test out the media streaming capabilities. The only catch is that you can only stream your media between 2 or more Windows 7 PCs. Here’s an article that Simon @ DigitalLifestyle wrote on how to setup the streaming.

I’ll be posting any Windows 7 news or other TechTips I might find so subscribe to my feed or bookmark me and stop by often to visit!

While on Nintendo’s support website researching a non-related topic, I ran across an announcement from the Wii-makers that an update for the Wii System menu was released on March 25, 2009. Even though I constantly read the tech blogs every day, I must have missed this one. This is an update I have been waiting for. While the Wii is great, it had some major storage space issues. Since I purchase a lot of the Wiiware and Virtual Console titles as well as Guitar Hero songs, I am constantly having to decide what saved games or other things to delete to make space.

One of the main perks of this update is the ability to utilize the SD card slot. Now you can store games and such on an SD card and even load games from it as well. The only catch is you have to have the same amount of blocks available on the Wii console since the system loads the game by temporarily copying it to the console.

In describing the update, Nintendo says:

Wii Menu 4.0 includes the following:

• The Wii console can now use SDHC (SD High Capacity) Cards with a maximum of 32GB of storage.
• The SD Card Menu, which allows you to launch titles directly from an SD or SDHC Card, is added to the Wii menu (more info).
• The Wii Shop Channel will now allow you to download titles directly to an SD or SDHC Card.
• The Wii console’s Data Management menu has been enhanced to make it easier to copy and move stored items on an SD Card or the Wii console’s system memory.
• The Wii User Agreement, which includes the Wii Privacy Policy, has been updated. Because the updated agreement applies to you and your use of the Wii Network Service, you should view the updated version by clicking on the Wii icon located on the lower-left portion of the Wii Channel menu, selecting Wii Settings, accessing the Internet setting, and selecting User Agreements.
• There are other behind-the-scenes enhancements to the Wii console system menu included with Wii Menu 4.0

To apply the update:

1. Make sure your Wii console is successfully connected online (more info).
2. Access the Wii System Settings (how to).
3. Click on the blue arrow twice to reach the Wii System Settings 3 menu options.
4. Select “Wii System Update” and press the A Button.
5. Select “Yes,” and read any messaging regarding obtaining the udpate. If you agree to the messaging, select “I Accept.”
6. The Wii console will now search for the latest Wii System Update.
7. If an update is available, it will be downloaded and installed automatically.

Official details of the update as well as past updates can be found here.

There are also some more detailed reviews by Joystiq and IGN.

I wanted to take a minute and share one of my favorite and most used applications – Dropbox.

I love telecommuting. I try to work out of my home whenever I can. One of my largest problems in the past was synchronizing my files. If I was working at the office and decide to take a project home, I would either have to email it to myself, store it on a USB drive, or copy it to my laptop – all which take time.

No more! Now I just use my Dropbox.

What is Dropbox?

Dropbox is an online file storage application that you install on any computers you might use. Through a simple drag-and-drop interface, your files are securely uploaded over a SSL connection, stored to a server and automatically copied to any computers that you have Dropbox installed on with the same ID.

I currently have Dropbox installed on my desktop PC, laptop PC, and my PC at work. This makes it simple to transfer work files as well as keep revisions of projects I work on.

Here’s some other bits of info on Dropbox that I like:

Features of Dropbox

Drag-and-drop interface (I also threw a shortcut in my Send To folder so I can just right-click a file and send it to my Dropbox)

Sync with other computers

Use multiple platforms – currently Dropbox will sync between Windows, Mac, and Linux. (I believe there is also a feature or add-on that will allow iPhone users to access Dropbox as well – nothing for Mobile Windows…yet.)

Access from anywhere. Not at your computer? No problem – just use any computer to log on to your Dropbox account and you can view, retrieve, and add files. When you get back to your computer, your files have already been synchronized and are waiting for you.

Log any file changes. Dropbox will remember changes you made to files and show you a revision history – it will even allow you to restore files you may have deleted.

Share files with other non-Dropbox users - share a folder and add work colleagues, friends, family, etc… They can all have access to your files depending on how you set the users up. You can even drop files in your Public folder – right click the file and it will give you a link you can email to people so they can access your file as well.

Easy to use interface. When you log on to Dropbox, you can view any and all changes made to your files by you and anyone you might share that file with.

Share your photos. Drop photos in your Dropbox and share them with others thru a web gallery. It’s not as advanced as Flickr or SmugMug but it gets the job done.

So how much is it?

Anyone can join for free and receive 2GB of free storage. If you want to add more space, you can pay $99/year or $9.99/month and upgrade to 50GB. I’ve found that the 2GB is enough for me right now but I plan on upgrading in the future depending on my usage. Current file upload size is limited at a 350GB file. That may or may not be changed in the future.

UPDATE: Use my referral code to join and get an extra 250MB of storage for free!  Join now!

How do I get my Dropbox?

Visit their website and sign up – download the app and you’re good to go!