Windows Vista Beta 2, RC1 and RC2 set to expire, Microsoft issues guidelines
By Ruben Francia
Microsoft today published guidelines on how people testing beta and release candidate (RC) versions of Windows Vista can shift to the final code. Likewise, the company warned that after May 31, customers who continue to use pre-release versions of Windows Vista will only be able to log in for 2-hour sessions to retrieve data until August 28 only. After which, users will not be able to log in at all.
Notifications will start going out today to participants in Microsoft’s “Customer Preview Program” who are still using a pre-release version of Windows Vista Ultimate, a company spokeswoman said. “Customers will have ample time to back up data and migrate their PCs to the final version of Windows Vista,” she said.
Upgrade paths were detailed on Microsoft’s Vista site.
While all Windows Vista beta users were issued a pre-release copy of the Ultimate version of the software, it is possible to install other editions of Windows Vista.
Windows Vista is available in five editions: Ultimate, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Enterprise.
Nick White, a product manager at Microsoft said, “To install a different edition, you will need to purchase the Upgrade version of that edition and perform a clean installation. You must back up any data, as this process will overwrite all data that you have on your hard disk or on your installation partition. The overwritten data will be lost and unrecoverable.”
Although there are no product discounts for participants in the Customer Preview Program, they can save as much as $150 since they can purchase and use the upgrade version of Windows Vista instead of the full-blown version.
However, Microsoft believes that only a small percentage of the thousands of beta testers have to scramble to beat the upgrade deadline. “We expect most beta users will have moved to a full version of Windows Vista by this time,” the company said.
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May 10th, 2007
[…] Microsoft also has already published guidelines on how people testing beta and release candidate (RC) versions of Windows Vista can shift to the final code. Likewise, the company warned that after May 31, customers who continue to use pre-release versions of Windows Vista will only be able to log in for 2-hour sessions to retrieve data until August 28 only. After which, users will not be able to log in at all. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]