Quick Review of Windows 7 build 7057

Windows 7 build 7057 has been leaked on the tubes now. It’s available in both x86 and x64 variants and contains a few new tidbits. Here’s a quick review of some of the new features in this new build.

• A stunning new login background. The image tile, password box, and button are the same, only the image has changed. So, it’s just too much hype for the new login screen over just a new background. You can download the new background by clicking on the image above which will open the 1920×1200 sized version.
• It contains the same new icons as in build 7048 for Paint, WordPad, Remote Desktop and others. It seems that Microsoft has taken a step back from the ultra realistic icons of the Windows Vista era and made a new mixture of Vista+XP icon styles which result in the new icons we have seen so far. They look really good to me so far.
• The performance seems to have improved considerably over time. Build 7048 seemed to be somewhat buggy for many people but this one, marked as RC 1, is very fast indeed. The Hard disk I/O issues that some people were facing don’t seem to be there in this build.

• Is this build really Release Candidate 1? Maybe, While it has almost all of the features that RC 1 would have according to the E7 blog it seems to be ‘invert selection’ or maybe I can’t figure out how to use it yet.
• Windows Media Player has the Internet Media Streaming feature which build 7048 has as well. It is actually a sign of how tightly Windows Live is being integrated with some Windows 7 features.
• Also new to this build is the 128-bit encryption for file sharing connections, with an option to use 40 or 56-bit encryption for devices that don’t support 128-bit encryption.

• New wallpapers in this build. They are actually quite beautiful. Hopefully, Microsoft will stick to these wallpapers. They come in 7 different categories. You can download them here.
• New user account pictures. Some of them are really cool. You can download them here.
  • New sound schemes. Same ones as in build 7048. Nice to have variety in sound schemes.
  • Better audio driver support. It can now detect when I plug in my headphone or microphone using the default drivers it installs for your audio card.
  • The Media Center Gadget has changed just a bit, nothing special, though.
  Overall, this is probably the best build of Windows 7 out so far. It really shows how Microsoft is considering feedback and is working hard to make Windows 7 the best Windows OS ever. I’m already convinced, what about you?