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UPDATE: Windows 7 Build 7100 was released to Technet on April 30th, and is the final RC build. But beware of fakes!
Thought i’d share this valueable information for anybody using Windows 7 (like me), or anybody who is excited about the dev process (like me) :geek:
The development of Windows 7 has been exciting and relatively easy to follow, but a branch in the Windows 7 code base has recently caused a lot of confusion around the build numbers. The common misconception is that a larger build number means that the build is more recent than a build with a smaller number. Due to the recent branch in code base, this is no longer the case. The good guys at Icrontic have put up a very detailed post documenting on how to understand build numbers and the branching of the code base during development.
When a project enters the code escrow phase, a development team can no longer afford to experiment with code changes when they only have one copy of the code (the winmain trunk). Bug fixes are not guaranteed to fix a bug, and they’re perfectly capable of spawning their own problems. So if Microsoft can’t afford to experiment with bug fixes on the winmain line, what can it do? It branches the code base.
In a nutshell, the 7077 (or the 70xx) builds are RC1 branch – the original one. 71xx, such as the recently leaked 7016 or whatever it was, are in fact experimental.
“Code escrow” refers to a phase in a product’s development when additions or modifications to the project’s appearance and functionality is halted. Developers will then be tasked with eliminating bugs in the code until the team is satisfied that it can be shipped to manufacturing (RTM) to create retails discs. {…} Windows 7 entered its code escrow phase with build 7077. The Windows 7 that you see on shelves at the end of the year will look and function exactly as it does in build 7077…
If you want to test Windows 7 and use it as a primary OS, go with 7077 – it’s the most recent build on the main RC line, there’s no telling how much software from the 71xx branch will be incompatible or unstable.
BTW, i’ve been using Windows 7 for around 3 months now, and I do a lot of computer tasks – Adobe CS4, video encoding and producing, software design, all the way down to common word processing (Office 2007) and Internet Browsing (Firefox 3.5 Beta 4). Build 7077 is GREAT.
Source : http://icrontic.com/articles/charting-windows-7-development
😉
@aviv00 wrote:
cos they are both rc 🙂
No, they’re not. That’s the point – 7077 is in code Escrow, that’s the future RC1 release. 7107 is a trunk duplication of 7077, which has new bugfixes but is experimental.
7077 = Pre-RC1
7107 = Early RTM Prototype based on 7077 pre-RC1 branch, with experimental code changes.7106 is older than 7077. That’s pretty much the point of this article. Also…
When the escrow branch (7077) gets to a public RC1 release, the winmain branch (7107) could completely change as the bug reports and fixes are applied from the escrow public feedback. This means that, In short, all the software developers out there working on Windows 7 compatibility right now for their programs, are told to test on the escrow 7077 branch for a more controlled and stable environment for development, because it’s the escrow. That’s how it’s always done in large scale software development.
Point is, if you decide to install the prototype 71xx branch, don’t be surprised if all your software crashes or doesn’t work. And, don’t expect to be getting much support 😆 I can’t imagine how many headaches people are going to get trying to help people with the “newest” 7106 builds…. 🙄
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