Windows 7 Beta – Does Anyone Really Have It?

Windows 7 beta was leaked on torrents that’s how everyone got it before it was released.

Yup. Managed to get my hands on it. Kinda had to use a back door on their server to get it…

I still don’t have the key, but that didn’t stop me from getting it up and running.

It’s not to different from Vista (aside from the sidebar and taskbar) . Even the startup sounds are the same.

IE is buggy as hell. It keeps locking up everytime you try to config something. I’m also not to sure if I like the new taskbar either. Maybe I just need more time to get use to it…

I’ve already sent quite a bit of feedback, theres definitely a lot that needs to be fixed up.

I got them both (32 and 64 bit) but haven’t been able to get a key yet. I know it’s not necessary at the outset, but I want to have one before I focus an effort on one of my machines.

Also, I haven’t been able to find posted hashes for the files, so I won’t be burning anything until I’m sure of the quality of the downloads.

I do have it, I am currently burning the DVD to install it. I will answer all the questions you want once I’ve finished upgrading from Vista, find me in #chris or #lockergnome on IRC, I’m KraMer. Just hope my Internet connection doesn’t fail.

I grabbed as soon as I could. Then again, I have a TechNet subscription, so I got it a bit ahead of the public, but not by much.

Now I’m trying to put my laptop together so that I can install it. One stupid screw that’s threatening to strip. Just so I can replace the optical drive. It’s probably going to get drilled.

[...] Windows 7 Beta – Does Anyone Really Have It? [...]

Yes, plenty of people have it. MSDN, TechNet and Connect users got it two days ago, and while the Windows 7 site at Microsoft says that “servers are overwhelmed”, this article

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22583/1103/

has links to the direct downloads on page 2.

So, if you still don’t have it, and you want it, you only have to ask yourself… why not? It’s out there, legally, for anyone that wants it.

Go get it!

Some direct download links have been leaked. I’ve been running Windows 7 on VMWare. The really strange thing was I was getting download speeds of 7 Mbits/s.

Here’s proof that I’m not kidding, assuming the links are still up. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO

Hello,

I downloaded Windows 7 from MSDN the day it was announced (I work for a software company and we have a subscription). The DVDs downloaded at about 220 Kbps. Not very speedy (I’ve had downloads at 950Kbps), but it wasn’t bad and they did download successfully.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Yes there are a lot of people that have Win7 beta, how they originally, got hold of the OS is beyond me, but there are a lot of people posting it on torrent sites and with supposedly cracks/serials for it. Now officially, it wasn’t released until Friday afternoon by MS and MSDN.
These versions may or may not be the official release, but a lot of them are posting Win7 as an “upgrade only” version. I was under the impression that the official versio was the equivalent of Vista Ultimate.
Even the official version will take me ages to d/l as I only have a 256kb/s connection.

It was due yesterday. The site was unreachable till about noon. After that time, the message at the download site simply gave you the following information:
“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.”
I’m still waiting and so are most of the 2.5 Million.

I got Windows 7 running on my pc. Here’s a hint, you can download it from a bittorrent source. For the key, microsoft are idiots for doing this… Use the Serial from Windows Vista BETA or Release Canidate. It’ll be activated!

Thanks for all of the comments everyone and the links.

Over at MS Connect there is something wrong with the download. Using FTM the file is not an .iso. ???? Which I do not understand.

Aryeh,
Do add to my plight, both my TechNet and MSDN subscriptions both are not working, though they are good until 04/10/09. I waiting to hear from MS to find out what the problem is.

Moo,
Thanks for the links. I’ll give them a try.

Mark,
That is the only thing I do have. A product key.

The biggest benefit of having a blog is that I benefit by having all of this great information from all of you right at my finger tips.

Thanks to all of you for providing me with this valuable information. It is appreciated.

Ron

I have got it today and have only just finished setting it up. From what I have used of it so far I have had no problems. It has installed all my driver’s with no problems and also the software that I use. I is a step forward from Vista. Seem’s a-lot faster and more responsive and feel’s very stable for a beta release. But I guess only time will tell.

I’m not sure why some of you are replying saying that you can get it from torrent sites…I’m currently downloading my copy of Windows 7 BETA off of the official Microsoft page for it. They give you a key and a download link to use.

I checked the microsoft site this morning and to my surprise the download was available. I have been setting it up and have had a few driver issues but finially got online. So far things are going smoothly, I installed on an older pc 1.47 ghz with 1 gig ram. I am dual booting and installed win 7 on a second internal drive.

I originally got W7 from a torrent and used it until my disk got corrupt. By, the time W7 wouldn’t even boot up, the official beta was released so I downloaded and installed the 64-bit edition. However, I was greeted by the same problem. Installers would start failing, saying they were unable to create temporary files needed for installation. Then, programs started failing and I was getting corrupt disk notifications. A simple GOOGLE SEARCH yielded that 3rd party file managers can lead to disk corruption. So, I uninstalled Acronis Disk Director Suite 10 from XP and reinstalled W7, been working perfectly ever since.

Cheers

I had Win7 off a torrent site and ran it for a week, however on Friday I wanted a legit copy and went to the MS site and saw the same “overloaded” message that everyone saw ( they didn’t know this would happen? give me a break or does it makes MS look like morons) Anyway got to the working site on Saturday, kept having issues downloading, kept hitting the download button ( after getting a key right up front , so not sure some say they have no key) but then went out and tried again and got low and behold a NEW key but still no download joy. It then occured to me that I was using Firefox and sure enough, once I tried it for a 3rd time ( yes got a 3rd key ) in IE it downloaded just fine. Went to install it and got a BSOD….since I had been running a version already (done as a new install, not an upgrade ) I kept having trouble with the install, then I realized I had kept my logitech webcam plugged in, I removed it and the install went fine. The webcam will run with the Vista drivers, but I guess the initial install cant handle it.

Thanks for all of the comments. I installed Windows 7 this morning.

i’ve been running w7 for as long as it was leaked to torrent sites.
i set up a dual boot on my entertainment pc just for kicks. i had no problems whatsoever with drivers or programs, zilch, zero, nada. so i ran w7 exclusively on my media pc ever since. and when ms announced the release i went to the site, got the activation key and contrary to some that had the torrent but wanted a ‘legit’ copy. (why? what’s the difference?) i just used the key on my current install. then i was able to use update manager and got all things squared away on the comp.
so then i decided to do a complete clean install on my hp dv-9825 or whatever it is, entertainment laptop. again, no problems, installed from the torrent iso, used the key from ms and presto, up and flying.

now that i think about it (sorry, it’s late and past my bedtime), there are a few issues i’ve had/have.
1. i installed the official themes offered by ms. the one sporting crater lake oregon caused my media pc to bsod 3 times before i decided that was the problem. i changed to something else and it hasn’t crashed since.
2. for some reason, the media pc will not connect to the homegroup with my laptop. it comes back with some error i haven’t tracked down yet.
3. i have a dlink wireless n pci card in the media pc and a dlink n expresscard plugged into the laptop. both are looked at as 54mbps connections. my internet is only 12mbps so that isn’t a problem, but if i get the homegroup fixed on the media pc, i won’t be able to stream like i used to.
media player classic loads slower in 7 than it did in vista and xp, but other than that, everything thing seems to be faster in 7.

i had no problems with vista, i always liked it…not one bsod on me and i tested that from alpha 2 all the way to the end and then bought another license for ultimate after it was released and they didn’t give me as many licenses for my work as i had computers. but i really like 7, the taskbar is cleaner and navigation between open windows, especially groups, is much better, my brother said his pc to pc transfer speeds almost doubled going from vista ultimate to win7.

anyway, i really had it, really have it and have really used it and really like it. and getting it, while perhaps skirting the grey side for a short time, was quite simple all in all.

I got it straight from microsoft. they are trying to get serious user input for this OS so they are giving a trial of it till august. they want they dont want to make the same mistake with vista. I know of at least 8 of my friends currently running Windows 7 Beta because i gave them the link and the Key is Legit and from micorsoft in fact i have a few extra which I am NOT giving out to anyone i dont know personaly. but it is an amazing OS so far the GUI is actually nice. its pretty much vista with a face lift and not so high matenance.