Windows 7 Beta not available for download anymore

By: Pallab Jyotee Hazarika

Microsoft not once, but twice extended Windows 7 availability – they had to stop at some point.

 “Sorry, Windows 7 Beta downloads are no longer available. You can still register for a product key or look up the key you've already gotten.” These are bitter truths. Microsoft has finally closed the download availability of Windows 7 Beta after extending it twice. Originally only 2.5 million downloads were available, but after huge demand, it extended the availability till 12^th February.

“I wanted to quickly remind everyone that this week general availability for the Windows 7 Beta will be ending: February 10th - starting at 12am Pacific Time, no new downloads will be available. If you have already begun downloading the Windows 7 Beta, you have until Feb. 12th to complete the download. February 12th - starting at 9am Pacific Time all downloads will no longer be available for the Windows 7 Beta. If you have not finished your download, you will be unable to do so,” revealed Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communications manager on the Windows Client Communications Team.

However, good news for those who have a copy but haven’t registered it yet – you can get the Beta keys on the Microsoft website till August. So see if you can grab your friend’s copy, and use it to register on your system.

The Windows 7 has got better reviews than Vista in many aspects. It is faster and more energy efficient compared to the Windows Vista. The boot time is faster because the drivers get loaded parallel. Furthermore, not every service gets activated at the system start, only when they are needed.

It is speculated that the commercial copies will be released in 2010, but looking at the hysteria around it, MS may well make it available by this year-end.