First Microsoft planned on capping the availability of Windows 7 Beta at 2.5 million downloads/registrations. Then after a ‘out server is getting owned come back tomorrow please’ fiasco, which caused quite a stir over the internet, Microsoft recanted their cap on Windows 7 Beta and allowed unlimited downloads/registrations to the general public until Jan 24th 2009. Now with the ‘enthusiasm’ for Windows 7 Beta still at a high, according to Microsoft of course, Microsoft has yet again recanted their cap on Windows 7 Beta and extended the download availability date to Feb 10th 2009. The timeline (lifeline?) of Windows 7 Beta download availability is as follows, right off The Windows Blog:

• Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.
• February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.
• February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

There is a clarification to made here. After Feb 10th, people will no longer be able to download Windows 7 Beta; however you will still be able to attain a Windows 7 Beta product key. So if you download Windows 7 Beta now (meaning you register via Microsoft and download from official sources now) but don’t want to install it yet, you will be fine because not only will you be able to attain a product key after Feb 10th, but you will also be able to activate Windows 7 Beta during/after installation after Feb 10th. Then there is always the possibility of attaining the Windows 7 Beta download from third party sources if you miss out on the official Windows 7 Beta download (rather risky however).

To attain a product key, right now or after Feb 10th, do the following (if this method changes between now and 2/10, I will be sure to update):

***This method will only work if you have already signed up for Windows 7 Beta (meaning you already did everything mentioned in the download guide). If you have not, skip to the alternative method.

• Run FireFox or Internet Explorer.
• Open Technet.com in one tab and login; allow the page to fully load. Leave this tab open. ***You need a Windows Live account.
• Open a new tab and visit either one of the following links, depending on which product key you desire:

32-bit product key: https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-32/enus/default.aspx

64-bit product key: https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-64/enus/default.aspx

A 64-bit product key will also work for 32-bit version of Windows 7 Beta, if anyone is wondering (I have personally tested this out to be true).

Alternative method:

***This method may or may not work after Feb 10th – only time will tell. However, I am confident that it will work.

• Run FireFox or Internet Explorer.
• Open https://login.live.com/ in a new tab and login; allow the page to fully load. Leave this tab open.
• Open https://profile.microsoft.com/ in a new tab; allow the page to fully load. Leave this tab open.
• Open a new tab and visit either one of the following links, depending on which product key you desire:

32-bit product key: https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-32/enus/default.aspx

64-bit product key: https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-64/enus/default.aspx

A 64-bit product key will also work for 32-bit version of Windows 7 Beta, if anyone is wondering (I have personally tested this out to be true).

Other useful links:

How to: Remove or ‘uninstall’ Windows 7 (or any other installed OS)