Free
Windows Vista
Trial
Vista
beta users freebies are over, Time to pay
When
I started vistahunt.com, Microsoft had not launched the Vista. Lot of
my visitors were interested & excited about new windows vista.
They used to
ask me “where can i download a trial of vista ?” How to
Download Windows Vista Trial, Which
are the Windows Vista Download Sites, What is
the Windows Vista Release Date ? and How Much Will
Windows Vista Cost? But now freebies are over. And
Microsoft had ultimately began warning
the users of trial and beta versions of its new vista operating system,
which
was released during the end of January 2007, that, the users should
upgrade the
operating system to a full commercial version, by May 31, 2007.
Otherwise, they
face a risk of loosing their data, which is stored in the PC.
In an email to its users, Microsoft warned the
users that, the registration key numbers used to access the beta
version of
Windows Vista will no longer work after the specified final date.
Software
will function for two hours
According
to
Microsoft, the software will function on user’s computer for two hours
only to
retrieve the data. This option will also stop functioning after some
time
later. Testers can upgrade to any version of Windows, they like. But,
they need
to select the same language as in their trial version.
Microsoft
says that, it believes
almost all test and beta users have moved to the final version of
windows
vista, where they were using test or beta version of windows vista.
Added to
this, Microsoft also said that, it has sold 20 million windows vista
licenses
world wide in a couple of months since it was released to the home
users on
January 30th. Beta version
reboots after every two hoursAs
said above, the beta version of
operating system gets rebooted, after every two hours, once the
deadline for
license expires. This may cause data loss. The company has issued
notifications
for users of Vista ultimate beta 2,
Release candidate 1
(RC1), Release Candidate 2 (RC2) regarding this expiration.
There are many upgrade paths are
available for testers of Beta 1 and beta 2. Windows Vista is available
in five
different editions. The five different editions are Home Basic, Home
Premium,
Business, Enterprise
and the
Ultimate. However, the in-place upgrade route, using which one can
retain the
settings, applications, and data, is from Vista RC1, which needs a copy
of
Vista Ultimate Upgrade. This upgrade costs about 259 US dollars. The Beta 2 and RC2 can be
upgradeable to Vista
Ultimate, but, they must do a clean install. This of course, erases the
hard drive
contents and deletes all data contained on it. All preview users can
upgrade to
a different edition of vista, by doing a clean install using a upgrade
option
from appropriate version. Either roll back to Older
Windows Version like XP, 2000 or pay & Upgrade to Windows VistaOne can also roll back to any of the
earlier windows versions such as, Windows XP or Windows 2000, etc. But,
when
one does that, he should keep in mind that, the some features he
enjoyed with Vista
betas or RC’s will not be available with the previous windows versions.
Microsoft
has warned users of testing version of Vista of some serious problems. The
company has made it
clear that, one need to acquire the final edition of windows vista, and
one may
have to do clean installation when the full version is made available.
The company
also advised to backup all data in the computer before installation of
windows
vista. No advantage to Beta testers
In
my opinion, the strategy will put the company in a black spot as this
harsh
decision may harm the interest in testing which is done by testers, by
risking
the computer hardware system resources. Of course, any company should
work
towards getting income. Let us hope that, Microsoft reverses its
decision and
give their beta and RC testers, the operating system software at
minimum lower
rate possible.
|
