Windows 7 beta trials without keys to last 30 days
Microsoft has officially announced MSDN and Technet availability of the Windows 7 beta, as previously reported. What was a bit sketchy at the time was the limitation of 2.5 million downloads. The company isn’t really limiting the downloads but they are limiting how many keys are handed out for the beta.
That 2.5 million limitation is on how many software activation keys the software giant will hand out. Downloads will not be limited so for those who don’t get the beta the second it is available will still be able to get it.
The limitation without a software key is that it can be used for 30 days only. Users who manage to get one of the 2.5 million key spots can use the beta until August 1, 2009. It was previously thought the beta would expire in July.
It is possible to extend the 30 day limitation to 120 days by using the “slmgr –rearm” command but this is really geared towards IT professionals but still works for home users. This is the same command that was used to extend the activation time for Windows Vista.
Still, other predictions will remain the same. Windows 7 could as early as this summer most likely before the beta expires though this is far from confirmed.
Early indications are that Windows 7 is much snappier than Vista even on lower end hardware. Lower end meaning a 1GHz processor and 1GB of memory though it can be run with 512MB it is not recommended to do so. On a PC that is low end, it’s probably just better to stick with XP.
Reports are also flowing in that Windows 7 cannot be installed without an existing copy of Windows Vista SP1. While it may be possible to install Windows 7 over XP this is not officially supported by Microsoft and should not be attempted.
Additionally, Windows 7 with valid software activation keys will stop working on August 1 and the company warns users that loss of access to data may occur when it stops functioning. Of course this could be mitigated by buying a copy of Windows 7.
It’s also not entirely clear if the Windows 7 beta can be upgraded to the final version. We should all be able to find out soon enough.
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