Windows 7 available now - on BitTorrent sites

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 02 November 2008 10:05

Opinion and Analysis

Thousands of curious PC users unfazed about breaking the law are downloading the latest pre-beta 6801 build of Windows 7 released at Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference, in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

CNET has broken the news that Windows 7 build 6801 – the one without the new taskbar enhancements handed out to developers at Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) – is available to illegally download from torrent sites such as Mininova and The Pirate Bay.

CNET reports that almost 7000 people are downloading the 32-bit version and around 1000 going for the 64-bit version.

So, we decided to have a look at the Pirate Bay website to see what people were saying about the download, which apparently will work for 30 days without a license key for activation, although there are claims that anyone with a Vista RC1 or RC2 beta key can use that old key to activate Windows 7 pre-beta until August 1, 2009.

CNET said that some were not impressed as there was “nothing new” and that they were “happy with Vista”, and that others cautioned the OS shouldn’t be downloaded for use as an “everyday system” as it was just for developers and journalists.

A downloader at The Pirate Bay (TPB) called “rapion125” said: “This is a STABLE release. It is not a buggy version that BSODs every few minutes. It's fully functional, and I will use this over Vista because despite being in pre-beta, it still kicks Vista's ass.”

Another user at TPB called “meth95” said: “Yeah... so I'm getting resold on Windows, in general. Windows 7 is gonna rock... can't wait for the next build so I can check out the new taskbar. This build is so stable, I've been running it all night and hasn't crashed yet. Installed Firefox, Chrome, UT2004, and Office 2007 and they all run smoother AND faster than on either my Vista or XP Partitions! Crazy!”

But as CNET noted, not everyone is impressed. Please read on to page 2.