Windows Vista Beta 2 Available for Public Download

[Kougar]

Step right up and download Microsoft's latest and greatest


Well, here it is folks. After announcing the availability of Vista Beta 2 for developers and IT professional two weeks ago, the latest build is now available for public download.

MSBLOG reports that the English, German and Japanese builds are available in x86 and x64 versions. You will have to download the 3GB+ ISO file with a download manager provided by Akamai Technologies.

Considering that this is a huge software release for consumers, be sure to post in the comments sections about your thoughts/experiences/likes/dislikes about the new operating system. I've been using it for the past week and have generally been impressed so I'm eager to see what you guys think.

Link to the download site: http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/beta2/en/x86/download.htm?www.dailytech.com (http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/beta2/en/x86/download.htm?www.dailytech.com)

Link to the source article: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2759 (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2759)

Edit: I'll add that they seem to be having problems right now with their downloads, either with or without the manager. I'll update whenever I'm able to maintain a DL for more than 5 seconds with them...

[Bio-Hazard]

Sorry I posted it down in the software area, I didn't see this in time...........;)

[Kougar]

Not a problem...

Wanted to as if you have tried to download this yet, and by which method?

Was going to update that their server is still unstable for me... it frequently terminates the connection, while the rest of the time I'm seeing transfers of 500KBs to up to 1.5MBs :roll:

After the first disconnect it's holding at a blazing 10KBs and an ETA of 125 hours. So much for those 1.5MBs speeds... Oh wait, it disconected again.

[liqnit]

i will wait a little to hear from you guys about how this release is doing...

[Kougar]

It's not doing well :p

I was able to download a 400mb SDK platform ISO from MS.com at ~800KB/s just fine and without a dropped connection. Yet even with a DL manager I can't sustain a connection above a handful of KB/s for more than a minute with the Vista download, so I'm sure the problem is on their end. Maybe if I wait untill four am... :roll:

[Kougar]

Article has been updated with the following :

Get your product keys here (http://bartysblog.be/content/get-your-windows-vista-beta-2-keys-early)

Of course now that it is 4am CST, Microsoft's website has this msg replacing the Vista download page:

Thank you for your interest in Windows Vista Beta 2.

We are currently experiencing a high level of demand and cannot process your request at this time.

Please check back later for availability. We apologize for any inconvenience.

That said... if you have a partially completed download sitting idle, now is a good time to resume it. I'm finally getting a stable download of 800KB/s. At this speed the 3.13gb download will take less than an hour. 8-)

[Bio-Hazard]

I don't have the bandwidth to download it, my son is going to get it for me on his pipline connection, he has unlimited use.............;) So I may have to wait a bit till he has time to bring it out to me...........:(

[Kougar]

I'll burn and mail a DVD of it to you if you want? Sounds like it might end up being faster...

[Bio-Hazard]

That would be cool, I already have my key codes and such. Just need a disk.........;)

[Kougar]

Soon as I can verify my download actually downloaded intact through all of that, I'll burn it and mail you a copy. Just PM me an addy and it's yours... ;)

[Bio-Hazard]

Thanks a bunch......;) PM sent.............:)