Microsoft have released the Beta version of Windows 7 for all to see, but for some strange reason they have decided not to use BitTorrent, but to shoulder the bandwidth themselves, making the MS download servers a bit hard to contact right now.
Here’s how I got to the download. All steps were done in Internet Explorer.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx
and sign in using your MS Live Id – this can be a simple Hotmail address.
Once signed in, go to this address:
https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-64/enus/default.aspx
Complete the form and submit your details. You may receive a confirmation email.
Next I refreshed the page and was presented with my product key and a download link. The key will work for both 32- and 64-bit versions so it doesn’t matter which you download, although the 64-bit version will handle more memory.
The download uses a Java applet which caused me no end of problems, so I used a direct download link aquired from the URL it was trying to access:
Download the ISO here:
My download is still going and will continue for a few hours yet, so I have no comments on the actual use of Windows 7 Beta. Transfer speeds from Microsoft are still slow as half the developed world tries to download the image at the same time, so have patience.
Enjoy, and if you have any comments, leave them below.
Update: Installed and Working
I don’t know if it’s just me being used to Windows XP, or if I don’t have all the necessary drivers installed or something like that, but Windows 7 just doesn’t seem as snappy as I had hoped for. Obviously I will have to play with it some more…