RSSWindows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 betas go live
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published January 9, 2009, 12:18 PM
Huge public turnout online for a beta package that flirts with the 3 GB mark, forced Microsoft Friday afternoon to suspend distribution of its Windows 7 beta.
In a short blog post this afternoon on the Windows Mobile Developer blog, evangelist Brandon LeBlanc wrote, "Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta."
Last May, in a test of its operating system's support for hardware-assisted virtualization, Microsoft began a process of systematically migrating all of its public-facing servers to virtual machines. At the time, it was ascertained that the move did not measurably impact performance, especially since the migration was staged to take place in phases while their sites remained live.
Though Microsoft's servers might have been taken down today had they been run on all-physical machines, the shutoff of what was supposed to have been an important distribution cycle may also be a testament to the need for greater scalability in Microsoft's ever-evolving data center model.
"The volume has been phenomenal," reads Microsoft's apology to users tonight. "We're in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We're sorry for the delay and we'll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience."
12:18 pm EST January 9, 2009 - This morning, the first beta build of Windows 7 for online release went live for the first 2.5 million sign-ups. That might not be a problem, given the progress folks are having trying to be first in line.
The official download page for the first public beta of Microsoft's next operating system, went live Friday morning.
"The Beta is free and available to the first 2.5 million people who download it, starting January 9, 2009," reads an FAQ posted by Microsoft this morning. "However, because Microsoft isn't providing technical support for the Beta, we strongly recommend that only experienced computer users sign up."
Word of the online availability of this monster download spread very quickly. By noon Friday, Microsoft's servers were answering download requests with 1033 "Server is too busy" errors. Like callers in a radio contest getting busy signals, perhaps the only way to get through is by retrying.
2:17 pm EST January 9, 2009 - By mid-afternoon Friday, we weren't having any better luck with our Windows 7 beta download.
However, the first public beta of Windows Server 2008 R2 -- which borrows the same kernel as Win7 -- was also released today, and downloads aren't nearly as difficult there.
I installed Windows 7 x64 last night in between WoW sessions. 25 minute install from inserting the Disc to a fully functional OS. This includes the 3 default updates and a driver update for my ATi 2900 (All through Windows Update).
Had WoW installed to another drive, so in under 30 minutes, I was logged back in porting people from the mall to the leveling areas. Pretty slick.
Still surprised at the limited number of 64-bit apps out there. That sucks. But at least all of the 32-bit apps I normally run are working just fine.
It's quick. Almost tempted to install it on my *old* HP laptop. It meets the requirements without Aero, but still...might be worth a shot. (32-bit version)
Score: 1
|Installed Windows 7 (x86) on my HP Pavilion ze2000 laptop (1.6Ghz single core, 1GB RAM scores 2 on the WEI).
Explorer locked during "personalization" and I had to reboot into safe-mode to get it to let me log in. After that, I rebooted and it had no problems.
Installed a few hardware updates through windows update and ran the WEI.
Desktop effects were enabled after that, which amazed the crap out of me, considering the laptop only has an ATi mobility 200. Aero functions very well.
XP was a dog on this system, so my expectations were not high. I am *amazed* with this install. Wireless was detected right off the bat. Set up homegroup and firefox and it's "off to the races".
I was planning on replacing this laptop...now I plan to keep it. Flat-out shocked it is running this well. Simply amazed. I hope to whatever powers that be that they don't end up screwing this OS up. Right now it is well, amazing.
Score: 1
|I've only done 2 upgrades from Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 to Windows 7... one for my main PC (x64), and the other for my HTPC (x86). After the smooth upgrade on my main PC, I couldn't resist the urge to do the same on my media / casual gaming and emulation PC.
Although it's using a single-core Athlon 64 3500+, I was using 32-bit Vista because it didn't require digital driver signing for the XBCD 360 drivers... so I was limited to an upgrade to 32-bit Windows 7. It also is running much, much better now, and I couldn't be happier with it.
It needed the expected NVIDIA prerelease WDDM drivers through Windows Update, but the NVIDIA Control Panel that was already installed in Vista still worked perfectly, and I was still able to resize the HDTV display over component output to correct overscan issues as before. I also needed to change my X-Fi defaults from analog speaker outputs back to S/PDIF 5.1. Other than those minor issues, it running beautifully. These have been the most pleasant in-place upgrades I've ever done.
I have yet to do a clean install, but I'm getting ready to do so on my laptop after reading about your experiences with it.
Score: 0
|Stopped using Vista a while ago, so all of these were clean installs. Also installed it on my wife's laptop (Acer 7520) without too many issues. Had to install the vista drivers for the built-in crappy webcam, but other than that, smooth.
Even ran Windows Easy Transfer on that one before and after.....transferred everything including email accounts. Always had issues with the old "FAST" wizard, but this was flawless.
Score: 0
|I just couldn't help but wonder why Calculator and Paint were pinned to the Start Menu. I didn't launch them until very recently. Was I ever surprised by what I saw when I finally did...
It only took 15 years to drastically update these apps. Calculator has a whole slew of new modes and functions to work with, and Paint more closely resembles a heavily neutered version of Paint.net with an Office 2007 flair to the UI.
Also, I'm glad they decided to redesign the built-in disk defragment utility included with Vista. At least now it's not a guessing game, as you can analyze first and tell how far along the progress is once it's running... again. Yeah, not new features, but still ones that should have never been removed with Vista. I know Vista and 7 has a scheduler for it, but sometimes it's necessary to kick it off manually, and it's nice to know approximately how long it's going to take. "Do I have time for a cup of coffee, or should I break out another season of The Sopranos?" :)
Better late than never, I suppose.
Score: 0
|went from beta news to m/s regs.download took 3 attempts to load,to installbut then arfter that running fine very inpressed with 7 hopefuly every body else is
Score: 0
|I can't even get the images to download from the site where i got the keys. I keep clicking download and nothing pops up. How do you guys do it?
ok figured it out.. you have to use internet explorer to download it, not firefox..lol
Score: 0
|It launches an ActiveX download manager. You need to Use IE, or the links I posted below (without a download manager).
It sucks, but it works...
Score: 2
|I downloaded both ISO's on Friday (the 9th) with DownThemAll (with default settings). No problems on the first try. Guess I got lucky.
Score: 0
|Got 4 keys for each now. Downloading the images again, just in case (Speed is great with their provided "download manager").
Going to put this on my two desktops and one of my laptops to give "HomeGroup" a whirl. Should be fun.
Curse Acer for making the HDD on the 7520-5757 damn near impossible to remove.
Score: 0
|Got 2 for each myself. They should do just fine until Microsoft starts churning out the Release Candidates, unless the keys are compatible with each other. I cannot remember if Vista was that way or not.
I'm grabbing the images again as well. I'd like to personally verify that the leaked beta SHA1s are identical, to satisfy my own curiosity. :)
Score: 0
|Probably worth reading the release notes, known (it is a beta) problems with:
Accessibility
Apple iTunes
Backup
BitLocker Drive Encryption
DirectAccess
Internet Explorer 8
Language packs
Mobile broadband software
-------------------->>>> MP3 files
Score: 1
|Microsoft has done it again, 7 is even worse than Vista. It works fine in a VM, but when I put it on physical hardware, networking completely broke. My bootloaders were all replaced, even on unrelated partitions. It's going to take a while to properly fix, it took long enough just to make it possible to boot back into Ubuntu and XP!
I don't care even if it can run all my games at 200% speed, it's useless without networking.
And now my DVD drive can't read discs any more.
Score: -3
|Yeah networking and sound was borked on my machine as well. I just used Vista x64 drivers, and it worked fine.
Score: 0
|32-bit here, and I'm still waiting for VISTA drivers for my motherboard. XP ones worked fine on Vista, but not in 7.
I guess Microsoft didn't learn from the whole Vista driver thing.
Score: -4
|No... apparently your motherboard manufacturer has done it again, as it is their responsibility to provide drivers and properly support their hardware. It is not Microsoft's responsibility. Microsoft simply certifies the drivers that are submitted to them. Hard to do if nothing's being submitted...
Score: 4
|What mobo/networking chipset? I can't imagine someone doesn't have a working Vista driver yet.
And yes, as stated, you're once again blaming MSFT for something completely out of their control.
(Oh, and it's a beta)
Score: 3
|Got key! Downloading now! ..11% Hurrah!
Score: 0
|Finally, the download links are working.
Score: 0
|The main Windows 7 Beta page has been changed to reflect this as well. Those links are working fine now.
Score: 0
|What tool are you using to create bootable DVDs? Do I need an img file from somewhere for these isos?
Score: 0
|The .ISO files are the image files. They represent the contents of the disc they were created from.
I use Nero, but just about any CD/DVD recording software will support creating a disc from an image file.
For a free alternative, download ImgBurn from Fileforum here:
http://fileforum.betanew...il/ImgBurn/1128426215/1
Good luck!
Score: 3
|Thanks. To clarify, I have burned several iso images to disk and they were not bootable. I guess it depends on the iso itself. I'll give this one a try.
Score: 0
|No, an ISO file is fine on it's own
Score: 0
|Use the link provided by "you" and grab IMGBURN. Burn it at the slowest possible rate and make sure you have "verify after burning" on.
Good stuff, works like a charm.
Score: 0
|here you go, grab one before they find out and pull it off. Make sure you follow step by step, even if already signed in to technet, i recommend sign out and then sign back in, then follow the rest of the steps
http://www.neowin.net/ne...your-windows-7-beta-key
Score: 3
|Fantastic! I'm sure this will help many. Good find!
Score: 0
|This fiasco illustrates two interesting points.
One, people still get excited by the idea of a new OS! Many of us who deride Vista on the basis that it's new features simply aren't worth it's extra demands on performance really aren't just clinging on jealously to the "good ol days" of XP. Give us a sniff of a decent upgrade with new and improved features that might actually (*gasp* - could it be possible?!) run QUICKER on the same hardware (due to that almost forgotten concept of programming elegance and efficiency, rather than Bloat), and guess what.... we'd all love to upgrade. Perhaps W7 will provide that, perhaps not, but I for one am interested to find out.
Two, the big boys like Microsoft need to get with the program and embrace distribution of software via BitTorrent and public trackers. Adding extra servers? What a waste, there's billions of PCs attached to the internet that can not only cope with the demand, but will thrive on it. Just goes to show how the naive scared attitude of the big corps, led by the near-extinct behemoths in the media industry, can lead once-savvy organizations like MS to cut off their nose to spite their face.
Score: -1
|Ooops
Score: -1
|I'm really loving the new thumbnail / full-screen previews with multiple tabs for IE8 on the taskbar, but I would really like to see better (or any) integration with Firefox and other browsers. For instance, the IE icon in the taskbar changes so that at a glance you can see that multiple tabs are open in the browser, even if it is minimized. This does not happen with Firefox... and probably never will, but I can hope.
Also, I'm curious to know how the new taskbar chooses the background colors for the icons for windows that are open when you hover over them (by the way, the glow effect that follows the pointer is neat). For example, IE is bright blue, Windows Explorer is yellow, Firefox is orange, Control Panel is a more subdued blue, etc. Perhaps it takes the most prominent color in the icon and uses that as the background color for the icon. Nice effect...
Score: 0
|Holy crap! I have an Nvidia GeForce 7600GS w/256MB DDR2 memory and I can finally run World of Warcraft Burning Crusade at 1920x1200 resolution with 32-bit color and all detail settings maxed out. WoW was slow as hell at max detail on Windows XP SP 3 and Vista SP 1.
Score: 0
|I got brave and did an upgrade from Vista 32. The only problem I had was a few blue screens but I deduced it was Norton. I downloaded the Symantec removal tool, ran it, rebooted and Windows 7 is flying.
**remove norton prior to installing Windows 7 if you're doing an upgrade**
There is a beta of Norton 360 for Windows 7 that works great.
Overall very nice indeed.
Score: 0
|Glad that you were able to resolve that. AVG Free 8.0.176 had no issues with the x64 upgrade, thankfully. My only issue in the compatibility report was Daemon Tools Lite.
Score: 0
|Google "slysoft" and grab "Virtual Drive"(?).
It works pretty well for basic image mounting.
Score: 1
|Thanks Tool. I'll give that a "spin". :)
Score: 0
|is the site to get the key working, the file can be gotton from else where
Score: 0
|Yes, the site is working but it's still very congested. If you install the FF add-on called "check4change" and log into Technet you can keep hitting one of these pages every few seconds using multiple tabs...
https://www.microsoft.co...n7-32/enus/default.aspx
https://www.microsoft.co...n7-64/enus/default.aspx
...until you get a valid key and download link instead of the "next business day" error page.
Edit: Those pages are coming up first time now but the DL links are still being redirected.
Score: 2
|Windows 7 x64 beta:
SHA1: E09FDBC1CB3A92CF6CC872040FDAF65553AB62A5
Windows 7 x86 beta:
SHA1: 6071184282B2156FF61CDC5260545C078CCA31EE
From MSDN
Score: 3
|Toolie,
Never thought I would see the day, but you are a genius. To such an extent I'm almost about to apologise for all those flames.
The hot link is working a treat and file coming down @419kbs, which is good enough in this part of the world.
Kudos to you buddy, but this is only short lived.
Score: 0
|"Never thought I would see the day"...
Well, that makes two of us.
I snagged it (finally without the use of a download manager) in just under 40 minutes.
"Kudos to you buddy, but this is only short lived."
Don't worry. I've got the flame-proof suit handy, as always.
Score: 0
|Toolie,
Have you noticed who is conspicuous by his absence on this thread, and no I am not referring to the "resident windbag", 'though I have noted he has yet to provide we mere mortals with his treatise? I am in fact referring to our resident Vista turd polisher Bollywood_
Score: 0
|I have indeed noticed the distinct lack of both Holly and The Fox. I can only assume they have better things to do than grace us with their presence. ;)
Score: 0
|Working download link (currently getting 0.9MB/sec)
32-bit:
http://download.microsof...te-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso
64-bit:
http://download.microsof...e-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO
These *will* work for 30 days, so plenty of time to get your keys.
(You can use a download manager, but no more than 3 parts, or it'll stall after about 10 minutes due to the way they work)
...aww...nope. Died again, 34 minutes in... Grrrr. Ya gotta wonder what the hell is wrong with Microsoft that they screwed it up this badly....
Score: 11
|Thanks for the links, much appreciated. I was able to get a x64 ISO from neowin, but I'm using the links you provided to grab the 32-bit as well. Thanks again and yes a very nice download speed :)
Score: 0
|He saves the day. Thanks =P
I can not get them to download. Download manager failed after 10 minutes, Firefox failed after 10 to 30 minutes and IE failed between 3 and 20 minutes after trying multiple times with FF and IE. Sometimes it gives me an error and other times it says download complete and acts like it finished downloading the ISO even thou only 30 to 500 MB actually downloaded. (Using IE8 B2)
Score: 0
|What's the build number that was released this week?
Score: 0
|According to the link I posted it is: 7000.0.081212-1400
Score: 0
|1.85 MB/Sec! Schweet!
I got the 32-bit one from a friend at work with a TechNet subscription, and now I'm downloading the 64-bit one :)
Thanks for the links, PC_Tool!
Score: 0
|Thank you for the working links,
The files are dated December 12, are we talking about the same public beta as the article? I mean, the file seems the same released earlier, before Christmas I think.
Score: 0
|They match the hashes given by technet (so I've been told...never checked 'em myself).
Anyone want to bother verifying the hashes?
Score: 0
|Windows 7 x64 beta:
SHA1: E09FDBC1CB3A92CF6CC872040FDAF65553AB62A5
Windows 7 x86 beta:
SHA1: 6071184282B2156FF61CDC5260545C078CCA31EE
From MSDN
Score: 0
|I read somewhere earlier that the SHA checksums were identical to the leaked betas from earlier (figured as much, if it's true). The leaked x64 .ISO is the one I upgraded Vista Ultimate x64 with on my main PC, and it was a flawless (but very lengthy) upgrade. Quite a zippy version of Windows... I'm incredibly impressed. I'm really liking the performance and new features so far... and the fact that my Vista Ultimate key is free to slap on my HTPC now. =-)
Score: 0
|I wonder if they patched the OEM issue that Vista has?? If not I'll wait for the OEM X64 version to hit a well known Bit Torrent site.
Score: 0
|If you are talking about the MP3 issue, yes, there is a patch and it is available with the download from Microsoft. I believe they also have it as a Windows Update for this version.
Score: 0
|Indeed they do, been using x64 since Tuesday, through my MSDN subscription, on a Dell XPS M1530, and a patch was a recommended download last night.
Must say this is what Vista should have been, it is certainly snappy. More importantly I keep my machines locked down as tight as you can without compromising performance, and all the services I would normally disable are already set to manual. As an aside this machine has an nVidia 8600 GPU which is still running a little hotter than I would like @55c, but first install a recommended download was for the new nVidia drivers also in beta.
Have installed all my usual apps and the only one that would not take on first run was Roxio, however the OS actually did a compatibility Q&A, and when selected the option in ran ok in Vista, well about a minute and a reboot it's working fine.
At first blush I have to say this is a grand OS.
Have just installed x86 version on this machine (the version referred to above was x64), this rig being an HP Compaq 6710b. This is my utilitarian machine, came standard with 4gb memory, only on board Intel GFX, but it came with XP Pro installed, and Vista Business disks.
Anyway, clean install took 7.49 minutes from start of file loading to a fully functioning OS, during install recognised chipset being Intel 965 and adjusted screen resolution accordingly, upon completion there were only 3 recommended downloads, being touchpad, credential manager (don't use it anyway), and Broadcom ethernet driver update.
What is most curious is that this is running quicker that the highly spec'd Dell, yet its performance rating is only 3.5 against 5.4. The only mod to this rig is a WD 7200 250gb Black Scorpion with 16mb cache.
And to think I was about to lease a Sony 13.3" with Vista SP1 to replace my cake cutter. I'm going to wait and get a travelling machine with this installed.
Have found a couple of issues, a number of websites indeed that of my ISP does not recognise IE8, Perfect Disk will not run, however, the freebie from Iobit does, and the same issue with Roxio remains.
I am mightily impressed!!!
Score: 2
|After the problems vista had at launch, they had to do something. This seems like astep in the right direction.
Hopefully it will continue to be so.
//keeping my fingers crossed.
Score: 0
|Got it, installed it without a key (30-day trial) and I like it much more than Vista.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm done with Vista and won't use it again.
Score: 0
|You might need a key eventually then... =p
Score: 0
|30 days exactly. I have faith.
I bet Microsoft extends the number of people that can use 7 as well, due to the screwup going on now.
Score: 0
|Told ya. :p
Glad you finally got a look at it. I wasn't joking when I said it was more than just a Vista re-skin.
I just hope those of us who paid for Vista Ultimate get a discount on Win7 after the *HUGE* disappointment that "was" Ultimate Extras (now gone). What a waste...
Score: 0
|Though I've never really been disappointed with Vista Ultimate x64, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that as well.
Score: 0
|EDIT : see below...
Score: 0
|http://windowsteamblog.c...-beta-availability.aspx
"Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta. We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and I’ll be posting here again soon once the beta goes live. Stay tuned! We are excited that you are excited!"
Score: 1
|well now i cant get to that site either =P
Score: 0
|Got a key for each(32/64)!
Walked out for a bit and came back and 2 of the pages had refreshed to a key. (From the original BN link posted in the article).
No luck getting any more so far, though.
Score: 0
|how did you get it?
Score: 0
|Followed the link in the article and kept refreshing/hitting the back button until I finally got it.
Takes forever...I've been working on that since it the link first appeared on technet....
Score: 0
|I hate you...
Score: 0
|*laughing*
I wish I had saved the URL in the same Draft email I saved the keys in.... It had "productkeys" in it and was the last step in the process. I kept trying even afterwards (just using that URL, which seemed to be functional regardless of the other steps as long as you were logged in)...
If anyone else has that last URL, post it.
Much appreciated.
Score: 1
|Perhaps they are hosting the Windows 7 Beta download from a Windows 2008 beta Server.
Score: 1
|download off-line???
http://technet.microsoft...valcenter/dd353205.aspx
Score: 0
|The Windows 7 Beta has been downgraded to "coming soon" status, apparently.
http://technet.microsoft...valcenter/dd353205.aspx
Score: 0
|http://wb.dlservice.micr...te-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso
Score: -3
|64 or 32?
Score: 0
|32bit, but I can't tell until I get it fully downloaded. I actually ripped the URL off a post in the the Microsoft Windows 7 Q&A forums.
And my download just stopped at 10% with a "connecting," status and it looks like they may have redirected the URL already...lol
Score: 0
|Yeah that link just takes me to the main windows site.
Score: 0
|The ISO is easy to get. It's the product keys you need to get from MS.
Score: 1
|URL is now redirected to the Windows 7 page.
Dammit...I only got 10%. :)
Score: 0
|This download method is not the public release:
From the Microsoft Partner Program web site:
Partners with a MSDN or TechNet subscription can download Windows 7 Beta now. All other partners can download Windows 7 Beta starting January 9, 2009 at 12:00 P.M. Pacific Time.
It will be available on the page that everyone was originally watching in about 20 minutes. Here we go again...
Score: 2
|From the Microsoft Windows 7 website: (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/)
Want to try the Beta? Come back the afternoon of January 9.
Still no links or anything there, but my guess is that is the place to look for the public DL. This is backed up by a post made a month or so ago on the "Engineering Windows 7" blog when they stated it would be on the above page.
Score: 1
|There's a few torrents around that claim to be this build. Do you need just the .ISO, or do you also need an individual licence key?
Score: 0
|yes you will need a product key to activate it and when downloading from torrents make sure it's sha1 checksum hash is not different from that of MSDN. Try thepiratebay :)
Score: 0
|well windows 7 fails it's cause no one could beta test it
Score: 0
|no one could beta test it?
it was leaked even before it appeared on msdn/technet and you can/could download it via torrents. Just google it
Score: 0
|Does anyone know of a torrent to download 64-bit Windows 7? My computer has 6GB of RAM so the 32-bit version is useless for me. I've gone to "pizzatorrent.com" and all I can find is the 32-bit version of Windows 7.
Score: -1
|try thepiratebay, it's there but don't know if it's untouched ISO.
Here's the SHA1 checksum hash of Windows 7 x64 beta from MSDN: E09FDBC1CB3A92CF6CC872040FDAF65553AB62A5
Score: 0
|Error
The site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day.
Their sites are getting hammered!!
Downloads via technet/msdn subscribers is very slow.
Score: 0
|If they've already given you the key (I haven't gotten quite that far yet) you'd have better luck downloading it from a torrent site.
..getting the "technical difficulties" error on all 4 of my sessions/logins.
All of this for a "beta"...
Score: 0
|beta keys are still not available to MSDN/Technet subscribers either. So I tried to get it via public beta but to no avail, instead wasted more than half an hour just to see "Error The site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day"
Score: 0
|Tip: Sign into technet *first* to save a step or two...
Score: 1
|Has anyone got it to start downloading yet?
Score: 0
|Not me, but I've only been trying for 4 hours. ;)
Score: 0
|nope still getting server error
Score: 0
|Good thing I downloaded the Torrent on MONDAY.
Score: -3
|The beta *does* require activation before 30 days, but you can use it for 30 days without a key.
Torrent sites have had it for a week now, so if you can get a key or decide you don't need one, download it from somewhere else.
Microsoft had to have seen this coming. One wonders why they chose not to handle it better. Are they trying to make it appear as though even *they* can't handle this much traffic??
Score: 2
|still trying myself :( no luck
Score: 1
|Mmh...looks like it's time to go Torrent style to get this software. Then again I'm still going to need an activation key, right? Can anyone confirm this, does this beta require an activation key??
Score: 0
|Can't even get in under MSDN/Technet...
Score: 1
|I wonder how much disk space their session storage is taking up right now... =p
Score: 2
|Server is too busy Server is too busy Server is too busy Server is too busy Server is too busy Server is too busy Server is too busy...that's just wonderful.
Score: 0
|It went live on the Chinese section of Technet a couple of hours before it appeared elsewhere and the servers were swamped almost immediately.
Score: 0
|I keep getting on their site: :(
Error
The site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day.
Score: 0
|lucky... I haven't even gotten a message like that yet. All I get is (paraphrased):
"Unknown error. This is usually caused by a connection issue. Please try again."
Score: 0
|BAH they said the beta would be at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/, and that it would be up this AFTERNOON.
Liars. :(
Score: 0
|if they hadn't announced that the number of available downloads will be limited, it would be easier to get one. because right now everyone is probably panicking that they won't get one, even though there's probably plenty for everybody.
Score: 0
|I don't know... 2.5 million isn't a lot for a public beta of the next generation of the world's most used OS.
Score: 0
|I've been trying to download it for the past hour. There's a lot of steps in the process, and I just keep refreshing over and over again, hoping to get one step further.
It doesn't make me happy to see the signup link posted on all the news sites. That just means more and more people making my process slower =p
Score: 3
|Exactly what I was thinking.
Score: 0
|If you get to: https://profile.microsof...rofileCenter/Error.aspx
...don't refresh. You're refreshing an error page. ;) Hit the back button instead. (just once)
Score: 3
|Lol... thanks. I think I'm smart enough to notice that.
Score: 0
|Not everyone does. Good to know for future reference, though. ;)
Score: 0
|Glad to hear it....
...set myself up for that one.
Score: 1
|If they'd just offer another method to get the dang keys, a lot of us could simply get this build elsewhere. I am nearly of the opinion Microsoft knew this would happen and for some reason *wanted* it this way...
Score: 1
|Microsoft has postponed, at least for a short time, making the beta of Windows 7 publicly available.
The move comes as Microsoft has struggled to keep its Windows 7 Web site up on Friday.
"Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta," Microsoft said in a blog posting, which was itself hard to get to as of 1:20 p.m. PST. "We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and I'll be posting here again soon once the beta goes live. Stay tuned! We are excited that you are excited!"
Meanwhile, the company appears to have also pulled the code off a direct link that some were using to get the software on Friday.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10138921-75.html
"Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal—we're in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We're sorry for the delay and we'll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience."
From the Windows 7 Microsoft site.
Score: 2
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