Have Microsoft intentionally allowed Windows 7 Beta 1 to become widely available from unofficial sources? -

I ask this as they do not seem phased by it at all, torrents can easily be blocked but they have done nothing to prevent downloading. Could this be a refreshing approach from Microsoft with regards to Beta software. LUG.

I think so Take a look at this: http://www.insidetech.com/news/articles/...

Refreshing? Maybe; but let s face it, Microsoft are not stupid and need to reverse the damage done by Vista (not as it stands as a product, but the way they handled the release and its teething problems) Then there s the product which is useless for less well-endowed computers and especially netbooks which they have had to use XP on. Windows 7 is supposed to work on the netbooks so that is why it is available:- because they want people who have only got XP as an option to stay with the (more) familiar windows product. The more people have to think about Linux as an alternative the worse for Microsoft because most people who try a real version either stay with it or at least dual-boot. The netbook versions of Linux have done no favours for Linux s popularity as they are no better than a good mobile phone (or cell phone) menu system. I know that is remedied now (by Ubuntu and Mandriva most notably) but there seems to be no takers with most of the netbook vendors; especially the most popular ones (acer and asus 90% market share) but I think Dell used Ubuntu

ABSOLUTELY. Evidence number 1: On thepiratebay.org s legal threats section, they have no new emails from microsoft about windows 7. If they really cared about it being there TPB would have already gotten the notice and made a funny response. Evidence number 2: microsoft hasn t done anything drastic like make any lawsuits or interfere with the gnutella network or even blocked torrent hashes in vista. Evidence number 3: how the hell do we get every single major build upgrade unless microsoft is intentionally being lax? Face it. All microsoft is doing is getting free beta testers and free advertising and making us feel lucky. Very smart indeed. Although seriously, what the hell is the difference between it a vista besides the new pulsing boot screen?

Definitely intentional, but done entirely in the best interest of their business. Someone once said that quot;The business of business is businessquot; and it is essentially true, it s natural to capitalism. What they have clearly realised is that by allowing this form of piracy they can garner a larger portion of the market; it is a way of fighting back against Mac and, perhaps, Linux.

Its the old adage about putting the cat back in the bag... Blocking and reducing the sharing of 7 is not going to be accomplished. Ask the music industry about their success. Plus the Betas DO have a shelf life and expiration date.