Windows 7 Build 6936 Hints At Windows 7 Beta
The German online magazine Winfuture (German) got their hands on the latest Windows 7 build with the build number 6936 that got distributed to the small circle of pre-beta testers. The build is identical with the build that was used to demonstrate Windows 7 at the WinHec conference. That build was created at the end of October according to Winfuture.
The full taskbar functionality is now available in that build. The remarkable changes of build 6936 are:
- Jumplists are accessible by right-clicking on a symbol in the task bar
- The Start button seems more colorful when moving the mouse over it
- The Start menu is now displaying icons next to the most used applications which lead to Jump Lists as well
- They mention new and updated symbols but fail to provide details
- The Zoom function is now available which can be used to zoom into parts of the computer desktop. The zoom works in multimedia files as well.
- Hardware Detection seems to have been improved as devices that were not completely detected in the PDC build were not detected correctly.
- Missing drivers were downloaded from Windows Update automatically
- The Shutdown button is now showing in text form what it will do
Back to the title of the article. Why does this release hint at the Windows 7 Beta? Microsoft changed the default Windows 7 wallpaper to one entitled Windows 7 Beta Default Desktop Wallpaper. The difference is the fish that is shown in the middle of the wallpaper.

The species is called Betta..

Interesting choice of fish. Betta are among the most ferocious fish in existence, and were bred as fighting fish in Siam and other Asian countries, where they were combated in contests similar to cockfighting that one observes in many cultures. For MS to use this as their symbolic ‘fish’ for Windows 7…
This continues the pattern in Vista where the MS logo replaced the “Start” button, which creates a psychological impression that every program listed within is an MS subroutine rather than a user’s collection of softwares.
On the whole, Windows 7 reminds me of windows ME, a stopover OS that will bridge Vista and the Next Big Thing. LOL, I saw one vidcap on YouTube that demonstrated ‘new’ features on Windows 7 that were already implemented and available on Vista. This clearly demonstrates the reviewer’s ignorance of his/her own OS.
One nag: it seems that each reiteration of the Windows OS increases the difficulty of configuration whilst concordantly decreasing the availability of tweaks.
@Cven (again)
And yeah, a Betta. Â This fish has only appeared in recent builds….you know the ones nearing the BETA release.Â
Sweet! I can’t wait to see what the final Windows 7 UI will look like, this is when we get to start seeing the major changes!
gud!
I’ve installed this on a 900mhz, 300mb ram, geforce 2 32mb ram computer.. This thing runs super, much faster then ANY linux distro for sure inculding (DSL, SLITAZ, ect…). Windows 7 is going to be the BEST OS EVERÂ
The PC is really 886mhz Anyways.. This will run on almost any system fine.
@Cven
ONE? Â That’s all you did. Â Until you test the OS for yourself (and that doesn’t mean watching a YouTube of someone else’s) then you can say nothing one way or the other… ESPECIALLY when it comes to comparing it to Windows Me. Â GOOOOOD GAWD.
OK this is outdated, i am runing version 7000 of the beta. Â Ultimate edition. Â No problems at all so far. Â All my steam based games work. Â great OS!! Better than vista for speed and stability and its a beta. Â According to microsoft the only difference between this and there final actual release will be bug fixes, so this beta is just an actual version. Â Just will stop functioning August 2009. Â So i will enjoy my next 8 months of this product free and will buy as soon as its avilable. Â Works well on this system running a 1.4Ghz AMD Geode CPU, 1Gig DDR266, 4XAGP Geforce6800XE 256MB. Â I run office 2003, all my steam based games no glitches. Â All drivers worked. Â WIndows Update had my sound, Wifi, Graphics, everything fine. Â If it has a vist driver it will work here. Â To connect to the windows update and ge tmy drivers for the first time I had to use a USB wifi card, that all ia had were XP drivers on disk and they worked perfect! Â Then update gave me the drivers for my PCI wireless-n card. Â Today I will replace vista on my Phenom quad gamer, because geams like Half-life two that choked on this sytem on XP, now run at 30-60FPS! Â So my quad with crosssfire X1650 radeon cards should run at 100+FPS.
I allways hated vista. Â Unless you needed 4+ gigs of ram for a gamer I talked people into downgrading there pc to XP. Â Once this comes out im gonna push as many WIndows 7 PC as I can. Â If they come out with a hack/patch that removes the August 09 nuke in this progam Im keeping it till 2010 when the full version comes out!! Â I am a TRUE tech. Â MCSE, A+, AMD Solutions Provide, Certified Microsoft Partner Progam Member, and thats just my civilian Job. Â My MOS (military Occupational Specialty) is in I.T work in the NY Army National Guard (B. CO 108th Infantry). Â I have done work over in the big sand box for six months. Â And the goverment uses nothing but XP its good to have something new to look foward to.
Oh and one mre thing. for the guy that called it the next windows me, you got that switched Windows Vista is windows ME, this is the better thing. Don’t diss this till you try it. You want to try it search build 7000 on a torrent site and get it. It definitely blows vista away for performance.
but i ill concede one thing to the ubuntu fan boys, the control panel and appearence options do mirror something similar to KDE, Enlightenment. and People who say Linux is original, allot of the GUIS look like mac clones, not very origional.