Checking out the Windows team blog it appears Microsoft have made the decision to extend the Windows 7 beta until Jan. 24th and in the process removing the 2.5m download limit. From the site:

I know many of you have had issues with the Windows 7 Beta site over the last 24 hours. As you may have noticed the download site has been up and running smoothly since this morning. That said, we apologize for the inconvenience that it caused some of you.

Due to an enormous surge in demand, the download experience was not ideal so we listened and took the necessary steps to ensure a good experience. We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit.

Thank you for your enthusiasm, interest and willingness to beta test. It has been great to see the positive early reviews and feedback. As you know, this is a beta product. We are working hard to get Windows 7 ready and right. Your input is a critical part of that process. Thank you!

So there you have it! Looking at a few web sites it appears Windows 7 is “alot snappier”, although after you install 20 apps and remove 10 it should start functioning like Windows 98/2k/XP/Vista and slow to a crawl. Either way, let’s see.

After my last rant on a good NNTP/NZB client for OSX (which can be read here) I came across a new client called NNTPGrab. The client is developed using GTK and is cross-platform between Win32/Linux/OSX. From its official site, the features include:

Possibility to run the GUI on a different computer than where the downloads are happening

Right now the client is really only lacking one main feature (bandwidth limiting, planned for v0.6) and even though NNTPGrab is coded in GTK, it still appears to be better than NZBDrop and Usenet, which both are severely lacking in terms of the development lifecycle (Unison released Feb 08, NZBDrop released Sept 08). While I won’t be using this until the bandwidth limiting feature is implemented, this application is showing alot of promise and will be something to keep an eye on.

Microsoft’s server capacity is up to scratch (according to them) and they have now released the Windows 7 beta for download. Head on over to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/ and click the ‘Get the Beta’ link down the bottom of the page.

You’ll need to sign in with your live ID/hotmail/passport, but after answering a few questions you’ll be provided with a product key while letting your download complete in the background. At 2.5gb, it might take a while.

Yesterday we were greeted with a nice error message, today we see: “The Windows 7 Beta is now available for download. Thanks for your interest and help with the Beta”. Hopefully the servers don’t crash again before my download completes.

While the Windows 7 beta was ready for download and people were downloading, the Microsoft servers couldn’t handle the load and have crashed. Looking at the Windows 7 Page over at microsoft.com, we now see:

Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal—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 guess people were really excited.

.. with VortexBox

VortexBox is a free, open source, quick install ISO that turns your unused computer into an easy to use music server/jukebox. Once VortexBox has been loaded on an unused PC it will automatically rip CDs to FLAC and MP3 files, ID3 tag the files ,and download the cover art. Vortexbox will then serve the files to network Media player such as Logitech Squeezebox. The music files can also be streamed to a Windows or Mac OSX system.

Features

Convert an old PC to a CD ripper / jukebox / NAS in 15 minutes.
Based on Fedora so it’s easy to modify.
Automatically tags all files from CDDB.
Automatically downloads the cover art.

[ Link ]

The just-released Beta 1 version of Windows 7 is a solid, fast-performing, stable operating system that appears to be just about fully baked and ready for prime time. It is much further along than Windows Vista was during its initial beta phase, and it appears to be feature-complete. Based on the stability and speed of this beta, don’t be surprised if Microsoft Corp. releases Windows 7 before 2010 rolls around.

The new, powered-up task bar makes an appearance for the first time in this beta, and it proves to be something of a mixed bag. As I’ll explain later in this review, the task bar makes it much easier to manage and switch between open windows and applications, but it also mixes icons for launching applications with icons for managing open windows.

So far I like what i’m seeing. I do like the new task bar and with all the reports of faster bootup times, generally faster operating for day to day tasks and everything else being blogged about I think Microsoft are taking a step in the right direction. aAlthough I don’t think windows 7 will make me switch back from OSX, time well tell however.

Remember the public download is available this weekend!

[ Link ]

MICROSOFT chief executive Steve Ballmer says a test version of the US software titan’s Windows 7 operating system will be available worldwide by this weekend.
“We are on track to deliver the best version of Windows ever,” Mr Ballmer said while making an opening keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“We are putting in all the right ingredients: simplicity, reliability and speed.”

Developers and Microsoft partner companies can begin testing Windows 7 immediately, Mr Ballmer said.

“On Friday (Saturday AEDT) we will make the beta available worldwide so users can come online and try Windows 7 at home. I encourage you all to go out and download it.”

Not a bad move on Microsoft’s part. Since the beta has leaked to the public via torrent sites it will do no harm to Microsoft releasing a public beta to get opinions on what they’ve done right and wrong. I wonder how it will run in VMware Fusion on OSX, I guess i’ll know by the weekend.