Windows 7 was “leaked” a few weeks ago through some developers by the popular P2P protocol, BitTorrent. Shortly afterwards, after announcing to the public via CES, Microsoft released the Windows 7 beta to the public on Jan 9, 2009. On the 7th, the beta was “pre”-released to TechNet and MSDN Subscribers.  Microsoft encountered extensive server load problems when the downloads were released because of the amount of people trying to register and download the beta. The registration system was then closed late Friday.  Users still leaked the direct download links, and so people got to download, despite not being registered with Microsoft. However, for most people downloading 32-bit via the direct link experienced a server disconnect around 400-500 mb. 64-bit users were unaffected, probably because less people use 64-bit, so there was less load on the servers.

As of Saturday, January 10, 2008, the servers were back up and registration was working. There were a recorded 4 unique serials for both the 32-bit and 64-bit, and to get them all, a refresh of the download page was all that was required (nice one Microsoft). The servers seemed fine, and Twitter users rejoiced after a day of massive tweeting. Microsoft, without notification, brought the page back up and so I can assume people, after Friday, gave up and didn’t bother to look Saturday morning.  Nonetheless, a large amount of people are testing Windows 7 and lets hope everything goes well.

Since many users were unhappy with the interface for Windows Vista, Microsoft developers have been listening to what users want and this version of Windows will include those suggestions. Some of the major improvements and additions include:  Performance Improvements, Redesigned Interface, Multi-Touch Support, and easier networking. Microsoft hopes to attract more people to Windows through this awesome release of Windows.
Read more from MSDN on the development of Windows 7.

A major improvement is with the installation process, which was massively improved versus XP and even vista. James recorded his installation to be fully completed and at login screen, within 5 minutes!! That is compared to a astonishing 1 hour 26 minutes, with the same machine, installing XP (Vista not available).

Currently, the most recorded bug is the “MP3 Bug” which corrupts mp3 files if the header is longer than 16kb. The recorded problem is that 2-3 seconds are removed from the beginning of the file (to make room for another 16kb header?).  You can download the bug fix here: http://bit.ly/8OAF. The update should be pushed to Windows Update soon, however.

You can grab your copy of Windows 7 beta here: Windows 7 Beta Download
(The beta expires on August 1, 2009 and you will have to download the beta 2)

Here is a screencast of Windows 7 (thanks to Colum): Windows 7 Screencast

Happy Downloading!

Update: The 2.5 million download limit has now been removed by Microsoft in an effort to relieve the stress on its servers.

- Travis Cunningham and James Hartig

Related Posts:

• February 3, 2009 -- Windows 7 SKUs: Worse Than Vista! (8)
• February 14, 2009 -- Chrome Nightly: mini_installer.exe isn’t updating (2)
• January 26, 2009 -- IE8 RC1 Released For Download (8)
• January 20, 2009 -- Windows 7: Snipping Tool (8)