Microsoft Pull Plug on Vista Beta 2 Download

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Source: Tech Digest

If you haven’t already downloaded your copy of the Windows Vista Beta 2 test the bad news is that with little warning Microsoft has closed down the preview program to new sign-ups though anyone who has registered and has a product activation key will still be able to complete their download until July 14th. Those who have a working copy will also be entitled to download the final pre-release version later in the year but be warned that all copies of Vista Beta 2 will be switched off on June 1st 2007 and it is still unclear whether or not it will be possible to upgrade to the commercial release, so make the most of it.
 
TVR&Ferrari_Fan
it is still unclear whether or not it will be possible to upgrade to the commercial release, so make the most of it.
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Actually, the web site and the installer are both fairly emphatic that you should expect not to be able to upgrade from the Beta OR the Release Candidate to the full commercial release. The web site and the installer are also both quite clear that this is a Beta program and that it's not for the inexperienced or for those who can't afford to lose the system they install the Beta on. Both of these points are made in plain English without any legalese or over-dramatisation.

Also (and I'm not shooting the messenger here), I think it's fairly churlish of TechDigest to complain either about the closure of the beta program or the fact that you won't be able to upgrade to the final product.

Fundamentally, I think it's simply amazing that Microsoft has thrown open the Beta program to the whole world, such that anyone with a Microsoft Passport (free and easy) could sign up to it and get a free copy of the OS to use for a year, no questions asked. These are the sorts of things that Microsoft have been criticised for not doing in the past, and now "journalists" are trying to criticise them for the way they're running the Beta program, rather than acknowledging that the very fact that the program is so open is a massive step for the company.

I've been very impressed with the Beta program as a whole, and I'm struggling to think of any commercial software vendor that's ever done anything similar.
 

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