Paul Thurrott was definitely right when he said earlier that Microsoft was going to release Windows Vista 5728 to Connect testers this week, because it is now available. Unfortunately this release is not open to the public but the torrent will probably be alive by the end of today.
These versions aren’t any lighter in file size either, with the x86 weighing in at 2,622MB and the x64 weighing in at 3,620MB. I have also heard that the Beta 2/RC1 product keys work fine with this release just as they have with all of the other releases.
Many people complain about the size of the download, but you have to remember that the single DVD includes all of the different versions of Vista…which is a hacker’s dream. Microsoft must have figured that the savings in producing only one DVD for all the different versions is the best way to go since people who pirate Vista will only want the Ultimate Edition anyway.
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I’m just impressed with them freely giving away the beta versions. Obviously it benefits them by building a community of users that otherwise might not have switched had the product not been free, and they get thousands of free bug finders. But the serials last all the way through until mid 2007, so anyone who has no need to upgrade their computer gets to just continue using vista even after it has been commercially released.
That hacker point is one I’ve often thought about - how long before hackers can crack the Vista beta builds so that they won’t expire. How long after that will they start being able to generate valid keys for future people to use these beta versions.
There were hacks for Windows XP Release Candidates that would remove the timebomb before XP was officially released…and I imagine Vista will be similar.