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January 9, 2009 8:58 AM PST

Web site problems as Windows 7 beta hits

by Ina Fried

Microsoft's Windows Web site will be the place to go to get the Windows 7 beta later on Friday. At the moment though, many users are encountering just error messages when they try to reach the site.

This was the message I got--"HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable." Is anyone out there getting through?

I have some calls in on this and will let you know what I hear back.

Microsoft's Bill Veghte said the company is aiming to have several million testers for the beta version. Microsoft has talked about having just a single beta of the product, followed by a release candidate version and then a final release. The company has been aiming to get it out this year, although Veghte said it could still come out either this year or early next year.

Update at 9:05 a.m. PST: Microsoft recommends going directly to this link.

Update at 9:25 a.m. PST: All the sites appear to be working for me, though the beta still isn't up, but should still go up later in the day, I am told.

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 3 pages (92 Comments)
by SebDavies January 9, 2009 9:07 AM PST
i can get on http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

but it says server busy on http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/MainFeed.aspx
Reply to this comment
by win7betauser January 9, 2009 3:14 PM PST
You can get the direct download at http://www.downloadwindows7beta.com. Don't forget to install the patch at http://www.kb961367.com which fixes MP3 issues.
by camdef January 9, 2009 9:11 AM PST
Which direct link??
Reply to this comment
by TheRealOm January 9, 2009 9:12 AM PST
Shouldn't this have a link?

<Update:Microsoft recommends going directly to this link. >
Reply to this comment
by SebDavies January 9, 2009 9:15 AM PST
yeah and you click the letters 'this link'
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 9:19 AM PST
I guess people want to find out what new and innovative ways Win7 will use to infect and crash their computers. Welcome to Vista SP3, disguised with pig lipstick as Win7.
Reply to this comment
by myles taylor January 9, 2009 9:34 AM PST
I'm actually a Mac person, tech, fan, but I have high hopes for Windows 7. I think they may have learned their lesson with Vista. I try to be objective, even about Microsoft.
by xcal78 January 9, 2009 9:44 AM PST
Hard to expect much from someone with a name like "AppleRocks1963". Microsoft and Apple both rise and fall every few years like clockwork. Windows 98 was far worse then Vista by light years. Next they fixed the OS with XP. No one can deny that XP is the best selling OS in history. Then they flop with Vista so history shows us that Windows 7 should be decent. The same pattern fits for Apple. Back in the day working on Apple 2e's and that OS was the worst thing next to Win98. I can say 'wow' Apple is up to 20% of the PC market. LOL
by Seaspray0 January 9, 2009 10:51 AM PST
Since applerocks1963 hasn't downloaded and tried it out, his opinion of windows 7 is based on stupid ignorance. Take the hint, dude. Your days of ignorant mud slinging are over.
by Penguinisto January 9, 2009 10:57 AM PST
@myles taylor: Agreed. I'd like to see what the thing actually does first.
by whizkid454 January 9, 2009 12:36 PM PST
Do they now allow 10 year olds raised in Cupertino on the site? Sigh...
by  Brian January 9, 2009 12:42 PM PST
Exactly!

I wonder why people want to willingly infect their precious computers with Win7 when the Mac offers superior performance right now.

With Snow Leopard on the way, these same people will be drooling over Apple.
by Mark_Anderson January 9, 2009 12:59 PM PST
@Brian

I guess it's because people want to try an operating systems that actually runs all the good applications.
by gggg sssss January 9, 2009 2:25 PM PST
@Brian - no, they always drool all of the time. There is an operation for that tho
by ralfthedog January 9, 2009 9:36 AM PST
I found the problem. Microsoft is using IIS. They need to upgrade to Apache. They also need to buy some more CAL's
Reply to this comment
by mjconver January 9, 2009 9:54 AM PST
ROTFL!!!
by gggg sssss January 9, 2009 2:26 PM PST
you know of course that CALs do not apply to annumous web access? Thought not.
by ralfthedog January 9, 2009 3:55 PM PST
@ gggg sssss

1. It was an attempt at humor.
2. I was thinking of a load balancing scenario where IIS starts spitting out new HTTP servers do to the millions of people who want a free MS OS. Microsoft for some strange reason chooses to use the per seat license for SQL, thus runs out.
3. I like the idea of Microsoft running out of CALs.
by webdevii January 12, 2009 10:32 AM PST
Fiinally someone with some sense.... Apache!!! yes!!! that would round out Windows to be a very secure and safe server!!!!

Enough said
by rdwalton January 9, 2009 9:37 AM PST
Hey myles taylor, what lesson is there to learn from Vista? If you sell 300 million copies, you're not any good. How many copies of OS X are there out there?
Reply to this comment
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 9:39 AM PST
That number is a huge fudge. Many of the sales are XP sales disguised as Vista sales. The adoption rate of Vista is WAY behind what XP was.
by myles taylor January 9, 2009 10:07 AM PST
Even Microsoft admits that they failed with Vista. I'm not saying it's a failed product; I'm saying that there are a lot of lessons to be learned from it.
by ZetaZeta_ January 9, 2009 10:11 AM PST
@AppleRocks1963: Cite your sources. In the early years of Windows XP, adoption rates were low.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Windows_XP_Adoption_Rates_Slow/1118943913
It's often considered the best OS release by Microsoft, and I was reluctant to use it until Service Pack 2. Now here we are just 2 years into VIsta or so, with only 1 service pack, and the OS runs just fine. Sure it's slower than XP is on the same hardware, but keep in mind XP is slower than NT 4.0 is on the same hardware and Windows 3.1 is faster than that. XP is an old OS designed for old hardware. Vista is a solid OS for new hardware. It's adoption rate is just fine. Learn your history.
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 10:20 AM PST
Well for starters from HP itself: "However, what we have been able to do with Microsoft is ship PCs with a Vista Business licence but with XP pre-loaded. That is still the majority of business computers we are selling today."

So, in other words, Microsoft counts a sale for Vista, even though the computer manufacturer has really sold XP.

I could find others, but you can do your own search:
http://apcmag.com/xp_still_killing_vista_in_sales_volume_hp.htm
by Vegaman_Dan January 9, 2009 10:25 AM PST
Applerocks1963:

*HP* reported the sales figures, not Microsoft. Please be accurate in your accusation.
by goodspeed8701 January 9, 2009 10:43 AM PST
@applerocks

Apple is yet to sell their OS in other countries. They may have 10% in the US. But in countries like finland, ireland, Nigeria, Egypt etc they fail to make any real number. The percentage is 0.1 to 0.3 only. Even if they pirate DVD/CDs people still buy Dell and HP laptops. So i dont see how Vista is a failure. The OS is selling good. Cos in the mall i work in nigeria i see atleast 6 to 10 HP leave the mall and 4 to 6 Dell are sold every day. the macbook pro is here and people dont know even know if apple is a computer company. Few people know the Iphone though but Nokia and Sonyericsson still lead the market here. Why the world most advance os has only 3% of the marketshare worldwide
by xcal78 January 9, 2009 11:03 AM PST
Guys just ignore AppleRocks1963. He's only really posts attacks on Microsoft here. He's just an Apple fan troll bent on pissing people off with opinions. Let AppleRocks1963 enjoy the almost 10% market share OS.

Ref:
"...Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X posted a record gain that brought it close to a 10 percent share for the first time since Net Applications Inc. began tracking operating system use."
http://www.infoworld.com/article/09/01/05/Windows_market_share_dives_again_as_Mac_nears_10_1.html
by BiggyTech January 9, 2009 9:38 AM PST
The Link works but theres nothing on there to download the Beta
Reply to this comment
by vamman January 9, 2009 9:41 AM PST
I've not a had a problem with the OS. The user interface that they toyed with frustrates me as a developer. Windows 7 looks like a Mac clone to me. God help us. Diversify does not mean simplify, morons. Why did they require two clicks to get the absolute path of a directory out of explorer? Stupid interface changes for dummies should be able to be turned off.
Reply to this comment
by w7info January 9, 2009 9:43 AM PST
http://w7info.com/articles/2009/01/windows-7-beta-launch-service-unavailable/

SAME error here :(
Reply to this comment
by GajaKannan January 9, 2009 9:43 AM PST
Windows 7 beta is not published up until 12:00 pm PST (pacific standard time)... The problem is because of Windows Live framework update that microsoft put and their single sign on migrated to the live framework that is causing the issue... Sorry to say, it is not the number of users that is visiting the windows 7 beta site is causing this slow response.
Reply to this comment
by computerdude10 January 9, 2009 10:01 AM PST
The beta has been up all morning... don't know what the author of the article is smoking:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx

(no worries though, not many people have been able to get through yet)
Reply to this comment
by Penguinisto January 9, 2009 11:00 AM PST
"Server too busy"
by Penguinisto January 9, 2009 11:29 AM PST
ah - got in... now to download this thing from the slowest web server app on the frickin' planet...

well, nope:

"Error
The site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day."
by Penguinisto January 9, 2009 12:50 PM PST
...and now the server crashes with a redirect page that says:

"Windows® 7 Beta coming soon!"

Man... IIS really does suck the chub, don't it?
by ZetaZeta_ January 9, 2009 10:19 AM PST
If I already had the beta for over a week (PirateBay) I wonder how I can just get my hands on a serial through Microsoft without actually downloading the Beta. They have busy servers because everyone and his brother is downloading the ISO, but all I want is a string of text.
Reply to this comment
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 10:22 AM PST
Watch out, monkey boy Ballmer wants his cut and will sue your ass.
by Vegaman_Dan January 9, 2009 10:26 AM PST
Build 7000 is the official beta. Anything else is not correct.

Demand for the OS by enthusiasts has been unexpected at this level.
Reply to this comment
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 10:45 AM PST
I guess you will get that from 8 years of waiting for an improvement after the disastrous Fista roll out.
by Penguinisto January 9, 2009 11:03 AM PST
Maybe they should've used Apache to serve the pages instead of IIS? ;)

Nah, in all seriousness, this is MSFT's last chance for most folks still using XP (like, you know, most of the Enterprise), so it stands to reason that most business customers want to see if it's worth the upgrade, or if some other solution will work better.
by DMWLegend January 9, 2009 10:29 AM PST
Beta for windows 7 on MSDN and Technet if you have a subscriptions. If you dont i guess you will have to wait.
Reply to this comment
by jhawk95 January 9, 2009 10:29 AM PST
Can Window 7 run on Mac OS X Leopard's Boot Camp?
Reply to this comment
by JamesArsht January 9, 2009 10:38 AM PST
If what they're saying is true - it's the same Vista driver model with an updated, lighter-weight interface, there's no reason it shouldn't.

I was going to try it today on the MacBook Pro I'm using to write this, but the download hadn't finished before I got on the plane for CES. Perhaps see you there Ina!
by  Brian January 9, 2009 12:56 PM PST
Probably so, but even if you do, you will have to install a host full of anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-Internet, etc. apps just to use it safely.

Let me know how it goes, I will stay safe with Leopard, thank you.
by computerdude10 January 9, 2009 10:41 AM PST
@DMW Legend: Are you blind? As I posted above, the beta has been open to EVERYBODY since the wee hours of this morning. Go here to signup


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx
Reply to this comment
by computerdude10 January 9, 2009 10:42 AM PST
@DMW Legend: Are you blind? As I posted above, the beta has been open to EVERYBODY since the wee hours of this morning. Go here to signup


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx
Reply to this comment
by inachu January 9, 2009 11:01 AM PST
There are no common sense easy to understand language on how to download the beta from Microsoft on the URLS shown in the article or by the users.
Maybe the download link was not given out just yet?
its 2pmest...... Common already!
Reply to this comment
by yuval08 January 9, 2009 11:03 AM PST
Jajaja, look what I got

Error
The site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day.
Reply to this comment
by drummer51689 January 9, 2009 11:04 AM PST
I am really excited about the upcoming Windows 7! It looks to be a solid operating system and i do think Microsoft learned not to load the OS with a bunch of Windows programs people don't use/want.

Applerocks1963: Why don't you just comment on Apple posts instead of always thrashing Windows?? Then you could really brag to all the other Mac users(who really care) about how great Macs are.
Reply to this comment
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 11:54 AM PST
It's more fun here to watch the Windows sheep try and defend their inferior product and their excuses for putting up with MSFT **** all this years.
by rapier1 January 9, 2009 12:06 PM PST
What I love most about AppleRocks1963 is that he makes me feel so much better about myself. Sometimes I wake up, roll out of the cardboard box I live in next to the dumpsters behind the chicken processing plant, shake off the rats, and feel almost overwhelmed by how miserable my life is. Then I think, "Hey, at least I'm not him!". Suddenly the sun is shining and birds are singing sweetly in whats left of my ear. He provides a public service and for that I salute him!
by craigbald January 9, 2009 12:22 PM PST
rapier that is exactly what i was thinking
by rdwalton January 9, 2009 12:25 PM PST
Applesucks1963 has been eating all the green apples over that on the mac side.

1 million people (and kids who like shiny toys use mac); most of the the rest of the world uses Windows.
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 12:54 PM PST
Right, kids toys. Explain then why it is whenever I tune in Nova or Universe on tv most of the scientist I see are using Macbook pros.
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 12:54 PM PST
Right, kids toys. Explain then why it is whenever I tune in Nova or Universe on tv most of the scientist I see are using Macbook pros.
by The_happy_switcher January 9, 2009 12:55 PM PST
@Rapier, I hear McDonald's is hiring. Maybe that's a path for you of the box house.
by compudoc318 January 9, 2009 12:58 PM PST
applerocks1963, if thats your birthdate, youre very immature, and why would msft fans need to defend the number one selling system....i mean c'mon, 20 years and still only a 10% share. no need to defend a winner......that said, anyone with any real computer experience will know, osx, vista, xp, linux, they all have their good and bad parts, its all about preference.
by Dalkorian January 12, 2009 3:20 PM PST
by rapier1 January 9, 2009 12:06 PM PST
Sometimes I wake up, roll out of the cardboard box I live in next to the dumpsters behind the chicken processing plant, shake off the rats, and feel almost overwhelmed by how miserable my life is. Then I think, "Hey, at least I'm not him!". Suddenly the sun is shining and birds are singing sweetly in whats left of my ear.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

ROFLMAO!

Oh wow, that was good Rapier. Thanks! What's left of my ear. LOL!
by Dalkorian January 12, 2009 3:33 PM PST
Wait a second, I meant dang dude that was flat out cold.
*chuckles*
Showing 1 of 3 pages (92 Comments)
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About Beyond Binary

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.


Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash.

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