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Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week

By | January 6, 2009, 10:19am PST

Summary: It’s not much of a secret at this point, but CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to announce official availabilty of the closed Windows 7 Beta 1 release during his Consumer Electronics Show keynote address on January 7. The actual bits should be available to pre-approved Windows 7 Beta 1 testers later that night or early on January 8.

It’s not much of a secret at this point, but CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to announce official availability of the closed Windows 7 Beta 1 release during his Consumer Electronics Show keynote address on January 7. The official (non-Torrented) Beta 1 bits should be available to pre-approved Windows 7 Beta 1 testers later Wednesday night or early on January 8.

Ditto with Windows 7 Server, a k a Windows Server 2008 R2. The private Beta 1 release of that product is scheduled for late January 7/early January 8, I’m hearing.

I’ve gotten a number of questions from readers this year already about the expected public betas of these products. I’ve made some discreet inquiries.

The public (the one and only) beta of Windows 7 client and server could be released simultaneously with the private Beta 1 builds this week, according to some of my sources. What’s the point of a simultaneous public and private beta? The private testers’ feedback will get top priority; the public beta will be more of a milestone marker than anything else.

One source of mine said the Windows Server 2008 R2 code definitely will be available to the public this week, but was less sure about client. He said he thought the public beta of Windows 7 client might lag by a week or so.

Update: Nope. It’s going to be sooner, not later. The latest word: The public beta of Win 7 client is due to hit Friday, January 9, according to a source familiar with Microsoft’s plans. The public beta of Win 7 Server is due to hit a day earlier, January 8, the source added.

Microsoft officials declined to comment as to when testers — public or private — should expect to get the new Windows 7 client and server builds.

Bottom line: If the tipsters are on their game, anyone who wants to test Windows 7 client and Windows 7 server should be able to do so starting this week…. And if you’re a consumer in the market for a new Windows PC but want the flexibility to upgrade to Windows 7 for free, it sounds like you should wait until July 1, 2009, to make your purchase….

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Topics

Public Beta, Microsoft Windows 7, Server, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
homeioy1401-24353655183691126463333317805426 Updated - 11th Nov
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0 Votes
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Private beta guys like me rule...
Mike Cox 6th Jan 2009
I am a private beta customer and I laugh at people who use public betas. A private beta is like driving a Mercedes whereas a public beta is like driving a US made car. Sure you may still drive it, but it stinks. When you are in a private beta, you get treated like royalty. My rep brings me gold plated DVDs and product key codes wrapped in a gift box. I then submit feedback in a secure fashion using SSL encrypted web sites. I then declare myself lord and master over the IT staff and meet my rep at a fine bistro for dinner and an expensive Cognac.
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Private beta guys like me rule...
AJane 6th Jan 2009
"My rep brings me gold plated DVDs and product key codes wrapped in a gift box. "

ROTF, niceeee!
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What about us small shop owners.
aragorn137@... 6th Jan 2009
Sure it is fine that MS treat you like a King and supply you with a Gold Plated beta DVD, but how many times do you have to face an angry client day after day.

We are mostly overlooked in testing betas altogether even if we have applied multiple times. We are the ones that ACTUALLY do all the work trying to sort out the ever growing problems that come along with a new OP.

We don't get taken out to dinner by the Rep we just have to face the general public and take the abuse and just carry on the best we can with what we have. We actually have to use our brains to fix the problems. Vista was the worst example of a poorly designed OP which constantly crashed on Intel based systems and took ages to find compatible drivers for most of the current and slightly older equipment that was still in operation.

Windows 7 from what I have read and heard is likely to be more of the same.. So aye you can be Lord and Master over your IT guys, but it us that will have to do the work.
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You do realize
soonerproud 6th Jan 2009
That Mike Cox's post are satire? The public and private betas are exactly the same in real life.
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Not entirely...
Wolfie2K3 8th Jan 2009
For instance, if you've got a Connect or MSDN subscription (private beta), you could participate in the Connect forums - whereas those who only had a Technet subscription (public beta) could only post in the Technet forums.

The catch - bug reports submitted and resolved were ONLY posted to the Connect forum. If you were in the public Beta, you would get an email from the team saying the issue was resolved (or not) and a link to the Connect Website - which you couldn't access.. DOH!

Such was life on the Vista beta...
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In your case it should be the Russian royalty treatment.
V@... Updated - 6th Jan 2009
nt
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9.5
soonerproud 6th Jan 2009
When you are in a private beta, you get treated like royalty. My rep brings me gold plated DVDs and product key codes wrapped in a gift box.

I then declare myself lord and master over the IT staff and meet my rep at a fine bistro for dinner and an expensive Cognac.

These earn you a 9.5 in my book!
0 Votes
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That is the
GuidingLight 7th Jan 2009
Mike Cox we have come to respect!

A very solid 9! happy
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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
gnesterenko 6th Jan 2009
My question is, are they only making the x32 version available for public beta, or will there be a concurrent x64 release. Been x64 for over 2 years now and not going to go back just to upgrade forward again once 7 hits RTM.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."
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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
mikeaspatrick 6th Jan 2009
I've gotta admit that it seems like an age since I got my beta invitation from Microsoft, I'm itching for the beta now. I was initially sceptical of the value of an 'official' beta with a public beta out at the same time. It's gratifying being able to feed back stuff though and maybe even being able to make a positive difference.

I was able to get a small but important change made to Vista. It's not something you'd notice but if it hadn't been changed it would have been a gripe. Makes me happy. :o)
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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
richfrombechtle 6th Jan 2009
Excellent-I've been waiting for the official beta for ages now, ever since the PDC. Hopefully the dates are right and it's only a couple of days until we can all start using the best OS going!

http://richfrombechtle.wordpress.com
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Public release at same time as MSDN?
Behodar 6th Jan 2009
This conflicts with the information given to me by MSDN last
week, which says that subscribers will get 7 in advance of
"any broader availability". As of now (3 pm Wednesday NZDT)
it's not on MSDN Subscriber Downloads.
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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
TheChiefphil 6th Jan 2009
get it at triniwarez.com now
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The soon the better
shellcodes_coder 7th Jan 2009
The soon the better, I can't wait to test it's beta version.
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Here's the best way to know exactly when the Win7 public beta is available:
Codyg-Winteam 7th Jan 2009
Hi, my name's Cody, and I'm working with the Windows Outreach Team to help answer questions users might have about the soon to be publicly released Windows 7 Beta.

Anyone looking to find out how to get ahold of their copy of the new Windows 7 Beta the second it becomes available to the general public should go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/.

From that official Windows 7 page, you can then subscribe to the Windows Team's RSS feed & be the first to know when the Beta becomes available for download. It's the quickest and best way to stay on top of any new announcements from the Windows 7 Team.

Thanks,

Cody
Windows Outreach Team
0 Votes
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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
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RE: Public betas of Windows 7 client and server could hit this week
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