The first public beta of TeamViewer 7 has been released, revealing some major additions to this popular remote access tool.

Many of the new features concentrate on solid improvements to what’s gone before. It’s now possible to save advanced connection settings for each remote PC, for instance, so you’re ready to work with a system just as soon as you connect. File transfer is now as easy as dragging and dropping a file or folder from a session window to your own PC. And sessions can be recorded, both as screenshots or AVI videos.

Other additions can help you to manage complex remote control situations, with for example new multi-monitor support allowing you to display separate session windows in each monitor.

TeamViewer 7 beta

But the big news this time around is TeamViewer 7’s ability to host online meetings for up to 25 people. Participants can be alerted via email, and join from smartphones, tablets or computers. Once everyone arrives they’ll all be able to view the same screen, see and hear everything you’re doing, chat, use a white board or share files. And the new ability to create a video record of what’s happening may be useful for reference, later, or to share with others who couldn’t make the big event.  Not bad at all for a program which is still entirely free for personal and non-commercial use.

There are some minor issues to consider before you take a look at the new build. Older versions of TeamViewer won’t be able to connect to this build, for instance, or join the new TeamViewer 7 meetings. And the program is still a beta, of course, so will contain bugs: treat it with caution.

If these are concerns for you then the good news is that the finished release isn’t far away, with a release expected in early December.

But if you’re eager to see what the new build has to offer, then there’s no need to wait – the beta build of TeamViewer 7 is available now.