If you read through the different Netbook and Dell Mini forums, you’ll see that a lot of people have installed Windows 7 Beta (Microsoft’s next big OS release) on their machines with good success. Apparently, Windows 7 runs pretty quickly on the Netbooks, definitely faster than Vista and maybe even faster than WinXP.
If you’re considering installing Windows 7 Beta on your Dell Mini, you’d better download the installation files now while you have a chance. This beta version (the only one Microsoft will release) will be only be made available until Feb 10th, after which, it won’t be available. You’ll also need to follow the procedure to get an activation key for the beta version to use it.
So, I suggest you download and get the activation key soon, just in case you decide later to try out Windows 7 on your Mini 9 or other computer system. This beta version is suppose to expire in August 2009, so after that time you’ll need to switch back to Vista or Windows XP until Microsoft officially releases Windows 7 in 2010.
Personally, I think the Dell Mini is the perfect machine for testing out Windows 7, since it won’t be my main computer and I can afford the down time to reinstall WinXP if I don’t like Windows 7.
Download the Beta install .ISO and key here. You have until Feb. 10.
