Microsoft will halt downloads for its Windows 7 beta. The blogosphere has been on fire with tons of posts about the new Windows 7. There has been a much more positive tone versus 
Vista.
A notice on the Windows 7 beta download site now reads: “We’re sorry, but [Windows 7] downloads are no longer available. If your download was interrupted, you can still finish it.”
Those of you who are still downloading the beta operating system have until 5pm tomorrow to finish – and if you don’t finish by then, the download will be terminated.
Despite this, the Windows 7 website is still offering beta keys for those who haven’t registered their copy yet – Microsoft is understandably keen for testers to activate their copy.
Originally, Microsoft planned to only offer 2.5 million downloads before closing the beta, but after demand for a first glimpse at Microsoft’s next operating system brought servers to a halt, the company extended the deadline until 12th February.
The beta has been a massive success for Microsoft and a lot of goodwill has been passed in its direction following the storm of criticism it faced in the run up to (and following) the Vista release. The software giant has said that this success has meant it’ll skip straight to release candidate, but there is so far no indication as to when this is scheduled for release.
Moreover, the company only plans a single release candidate unlike the two it has released for previous versions of Windows and although Microsoft still states that general availability is likely to come early in 2010, our bets are on a late 2009 launch.
Hurry and get your beta version before it’s too late!
