MSBLOG Exclusive: Windows Vista testers get free copy of RTM
November 16th, 2006 by 
Zack Whittaker
Â
Not everyone saw it coming… nothing came in Office 2007 for testers but Vista was always a hell of a lot bigger than Office 2007. Windows Vista released to manufacturing last week, and MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers could get it… and those with Volume Licensing access… and now fellow testers can!
If you’re a Vista tester, Windows Vista Business (by default, Ultimate if you ask for it) is yours – check your email account associated with your Connect profile. If you qualify (if, that is) then you’ll get a free copy in form of a unique Connect invitation to a new sub-page with the build on. You must have submitted one bug at least to get a free copy and be on the technical beta.
You can activate the copy of Vista unlimited times on one machine (not entirely sure how the licensing thing works, just going off internal sources). Anyway, those who have contributes certainly deserve it – enjoy your reward 🙂
Update: Due to the load from Connect, MSDN, TechNet, etc. the X64 images have been removed. If you have already begun a download, you will be able to finish, but no new X64 downloads will be permitted until the load has lessened. Additionally, the Vista team will be intermittently stopping new downloads for periods of time when the servers reach capacity.Â
On a side note: Remember the last time that the Connect servers were having this much trouble at the Beta 2 Launch? Well, the connect sercers are currently seeing ~2.5x the traffic that we did for Beta 2. No wonder Connect is suffering. 🙂
Posted in Beta News, Windows Vista | 
90 Comments »
November 19th, 2006 at 5:55 am
Hi, how can I get free copy of Vista ? Could you give me a link to download or something else ?
rgrda
November 19th, 2006 at 5:56 am
How can I get free copy of Vista to test it ?
November 19th, 2006 at 6:14 am
I called in and submited a several mistakes but I have’t recieved my email either :/ Anyone have anyguess what we shoud do about this?
November 19th, 2006 at 6:39 am
well …I hope i get one ,but i think you had to be a PAID Member
of MSDN to be in the technical beta…and thats over $1000.00
for a subscription. so a lot cheaper to goto the store or an OEM copy
—————————-
Err no? Be be in the technical beta you had to be invited to beta test by Microsoft! MSDN is a completely seperate thing!
I called in and submited a several mistakes but I have’t recieved my email either :/ Anyone have anyguess what we shoud do about this?
—————————
As i said above: Ask in the NG’s or email the Vista team (i suspect they are getting sick of people asking but give it a try anyway) Also include in the email the ID numbers of the Bugs you submitted (you can see this on Connect under Feedback)
November 19th, 2006 at 7:24 am
Hey. How can I be a windows vista beta tester???
November 19th, 2006 at 10:26 am
;D
November 19th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Well. I am felling upset cos Beta Experience users I guess are not included. I hope I am wrong but I don’t think so. Just a few first days of my testing was over 200 bug reports, later I’ve sent much more so I think I did a few things
November 19th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
When are they sending the emails? I have submitted several bugs for Vista RC1 and RC2 and no email! whats going on?
November 19th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
I’m hoping Zack will come back and actually read the comments. There’s more then a few of us here who obviously qualify, yet 3 days after it was announced for download none of us have seen any email link. Don’t let us down Zack, we didn’t let you guys down.
November 19th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
I totally agree with moshpit, please don’t let us, those who helped the beta, down.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:45 am
free copy
michael hagelquist ,skive 7800 jutland denmark
i am a beta boy
thanks for all
November 20th, 2006 at 12:46 am
free copy
November 20th, 2006 at 1:58 am
I was part of the Customer Preview Program starting at Beta 2 and submitted a few bugs, although not through the Connect program, but via the beta feedback tools for Vista and Office(send a smile). I understand though that the CPP is totally different from being part of pre Beta 2 testing. I can only imagine how many bugs Vista had prior to Beta 2.
The people who worked hard and made Beta 2 and therefore RC1 and RC2 deserve to be rewarded, and its nice that Microsoft has done so.
Hopefully I can get on the Vienna beta trial.
November 20th, 2006 at 5:04 am
Thats the attidude Dez…. Youre the sorta person they need!
November 20th, 2006 at 10:06 am
Anyone who has submitted at least one bug while has not get the invition may send an email to erichanks@msn.com with the feedback ID.
November 20th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Can anybody confirm what “Sean says” posted?
November 20th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
Looks like Sean might be trying to scam us, that e-mail address does not even look legit. However, if he did find something, it would be nice if told us instead of trying to …basically steal from us.
November 20th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
All employees at Microsoft appreciate the efforts of all the Beta testers who jointly assist us to develop products to better suit their needs. Thank you. I hope you are happy with this new release & it makes you more productive in work & play.
That said. I do not believe we have made such an offer & would suggest to those reading this article they should not spend too much time on it.
As a MS Employee I’ve asked a number of different people/groups if they created or were aware of such an offer. Or if they were aware of anything that we said that could’ve created such an expectation. Not one said they were aware of such an offer. Many gave reasons why we would not make it. These are the people that make those types of decisions.
It is possible that the author may have misunderstood some aspect of the Early Adopter Program where occasionally we offer a variety of resources (sometimes this includes a discount on product) to participating large organisations who deploy the product in significant numbers prior to the Release of the Product. This is to ensure we’ve sufficiently tested the “Large enterprise” scenarios & to ensure that the release is truly enterprise ready.
I hope this clears the air on this.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
David have forwarded you the email to your Microsoft Address regarding this topic… This will further prove to you that it is indeed a real offer that you guys are giving to Vista testers who have submitted one bug or more.
Thanks,
Patrick S
November 21st, 2006 at 6:12 am
very good. thanks a lot
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:30 am
… sorry to bother you, but I can’t hold back my disappointment on the latest Vista-Beta – after having now contributed as technical beta tester for nearly twenty years – finding now on Connect the statement:
“Free Copy of Vista – To qualify you must have submitted a bug on Connect during the beta.”.
I’ve started testing OS for you with all the OS versions since Windows 95 from Millennium till now Longhorn aka. Vista. And I’ve been always proud to be able to contribute to the Microsoft community- my Beta ID I know by heart is “375885” – but the sentence above did highly disappoint me … OK, I wasn’t able to provide an accepted Bug for Vista this testing cycle but I spent numerous hours creating and restoring images on my test machine, loading the latest test version and installing them, testing and fighting the little things which are the reason I love being a beta tester – even had some fights with my family spending too many time “for free”. The complimentary copy received was always seen as a sign of appreciation for all the hours spent and the efforts put into the program. (It was just a symbol – I easily could have bought them myself).
The first time feeling a bit sad was after the sudden finish of the MCE Beta, which ended just in the note to return the test equipment – not even a letter/e-mail expressing the appreciation (which would have been enough). But seeing the notice on Connect on the eligibility to receive this little gift tops it.
After heaving spent several hundreds of hours and dedicated terrabytes of bandwidth to Microsoft for free, I would have expected something else.
Sorry, I had to ‘unload’ this from my soul …
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:30 am
I feel your pain dude. The only person at a loss here is Microsoft.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:18 am
Wow! Unbelievable…^^
If I’m a Vista tester, it’s great chance in my life..
God Bless for Windows Vista.. haha
November 23rd, 2006 at 1:24 pm
OK Nice!
November 25th, 2006 at 3:58 am
Can I send mail to Vista Beta Team to offer me to get this RTM copy?
November 27th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Vista always comes up with a COM SURROGATE error. Every time u open up a folder it gives you this kinda error.
Secondly, with RC1 the system always crashed once i installed the Sigmatel HD Audio driver.
Vista is not compatible with Sony Ericsson PC Suite. Even under compatibility mode it does not allow you to install the PC Suite Software.
November 28th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Hey can I ask a quick question:
Is this a legit Microsoft website
http://www.powertogether.com/
It says you can watch videos to get a free copy of Office 2007/Windows Vista (you just pay taxes)? I just want to know if its not a phishing site?
Thanks
December 1st, 2006 at 6:11 pm
Could’nt get the free version of vista:Was this a scam?
December 1st, 2006 at 7:10 pm
I tested many version of Vista and not recived any mail of free copy. When I joined on Beta program I did not hope to receive nothing in return, but now, the form with which she ignored people who step many hours lowering, installing and proving the different versions generates indignation.
I will hope the date of the launching to buy the final version and I will have left as consolation that I put my sand grain to contribute with the same one.
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:13 pm
[…] Last month it was announced by Microsoft that testers would get a Free copy of Windows Vista RTMÂ for those who had submitted One or more bug in the Technical Beta (it seems not many people can understand those two words =/ ) […]
December 3rd, 2006 at 5:31 am
Gooooooooooooooooooood~~~~
December 4th, 2006 at 9:33 am
I wish connect window vistar
December 4th, 2006 at 11:41 pm
i submited a bug, i got no email 🙁
/me starts to cry…
December 5th, 2006 at 6:55 am
Hi Try vista themes and and wallpapers. And lots of other stuff here for vista users.
December 14th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Can’t install DBT-120 Bluetooth usb
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:18 pm
I just saw this and I was wondering what if you did not notice a bug? I tested the os on my desktop and did everything to it that I normaly would. Heck I just recently reinstalled my old HDD with XP. So I guess people who had a sucessfull test (no problems) are being left out!?
December 23rd, 2006 at 8:27 pm
If you did see a bug i guess you could email it through to the Vista team, HOWEVER this prob wont be fixed untill another service pack or the next version of Windows aka Vienna.
Left out of what?
December 27th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
I beat you by a whole day on this “exclusive” …way to go.
http://www.xxdesmusxx.net/ee/index.php/weblog/static
December 31st, 2006 at 3:56 am
i submited a bug, i got no email
January 2nd, 2007 at 9:11 pm
been testing since 5384 all the way through rc2 and havent gotten no email what do i need to do??? I reported many bugs from creative drivers causing bluescreens to to Azureus crapping out. Is there anyway to contact them.