Alternative operating systems
So, I heard about this new operating system that is in the works. To promote it, they offer a free download of the beta-version, so people can try it out and see if it is interesting to them.
At first the download apparantly was so popular that the servers could not handle it, but now they should have mitigated that problem.
Thinking that it was an interesting change of pace that the company making the operating system, Microsoft, took a page out of the various GNU/Linux-distributions book and offered the system for free for prospective "switchers" to check out, I thought I would give it a try - maybe compare it to Ubuntu, or something.
Alas, it seems that to get to the free beta-version that everybody can download, you need to be a customer of the company first: "What web browsers support the Windows 7 Beta download experience? Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 support the Windows 7 Beta download experience."
I don't think I really need a "download experience" as much as I just need the actual bits to burn on the installation DVD. Also: who wants a "download experience"?!
I guess they aren't out to regain market shares from GNU/Linux distributions after all :-)
Update: The download URL is straightforward to extract from the HTML, so it is possible to download the .iso-image, if you really want to. I wonder if I can make Windows 7 Beta run from a usb-stick, like I do with Ubuntu.
I just noticed that "The Beta will stop working on August 1, 2009.". I certainly don't hope I like the system then!
This is actually nothing new for Microsoft. Similar free downloads was available of Vista betas and release candidates. They also stopped working after about half a year (which made me turn to Linux for good).
- mmm ๐๏ธ - 2009-01-12
If only I had known back then!
- Adam ๐๏ธ - 2009-01-18