Microsoft lifts 2.5 million limit on Windows & Beta downloads
13 Jan 2009
Microsoft has removed the 2.5-million limit it originally placed on downloads of the Windows 7 public beta due to the "enormous surge in demand" that materialised over the weekend.
Microsoft had originally intended to release Windows 7 Beta 1 to the public on Friday, but delayed the release until Saturday due to heavy traffic. To pacify frustrated users, Microsoft will now allow unlimited downloads of Windows 7 Beta 1 through 24 January, said Brandon LeBlanc, a communications manager on the Windows Client Communications Team, in a Saturday post to The Windows Blog.
"I know many of you have had issues with the Windows 7 beta site over the last 24 hours," LeBlanc acknowledged. "We apologise for the inconvenience that it caused some of you."
Rather than cap the number of beta activation keys at 2.5 million - the original plan to limit the test pool - Microsoft will instead make Windows 7 available for two weeks, said LeBlanc. If fewer than 2.5 million people request and receive activation keys during that time, Microsoft will continue to offer the beta until the limit is reached.
After 24 January, users will still probably be able to download the beta because Microsoft rarely removes previews from its servers, instead relying on activation-key limits to restrict the number of testers. People who grab the beta after Microsoft stops delivering keys can install the operating system, then run it under Microsoft's usual 30-day trial policy
Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the launch of Windows 7 Beta 1 and described Windows 7 as "the best version of Windows ever," with faster boot times, longer battery life and overall better reliability, all of which were problematic for some early Vista users.
Microsoft said it plans to release Windows in late 2009 or early 2010, but some Microsoft watchers believe it could come as early as the Summer or Fall, which would enable Microsoft to start selling Windows 7-based PCs in time for the 2009 holiday season.
Microsoft's decision to put a time limit on Windows 7 beta's availability mimics its practice more than two years ago, when it launched Windows Vista Beta 2. That beta, launched 7 June 2006, was available for just over three weeks, through 30 June.