When will Windows 7 BETA release?

Not long to wait....1 week before Christmas is the unofficial expected birth date - WOW that is only 4 weeks away before you can have your own personal look and try out of the next version of Windows.

Prior to BETA Microsoft has released two M (”milestone”) designated Windows 7 builds (M1 and M2). The Windows client team is currently working on the M3 build and this is nearly complete.
When I was sneaking a preview of the M2, early November, it looked very good, and I can't wait for the M3 and BETA. Internal Microsoft employees are actively been encouraged to use M2 on their PCs right now - it is that stable (and of course it is quicker than Vista).

So where do you get it in December?

Outside of Microsoft it will be tricky but Microsoft is trying to make it widely available (since they REALLY want it to succeed). MCTs, MVPs and other SME are expected to be able to receive it and then the rest of the world will be able to sign up on the Microsoft Connect site and request access.

Although there is already some "pre-beta" versions of Windows 7 available on various BitTorrent sites - I would strongly advise NOT using these sites as sources since the code you install is not approved, not safe, and it is so easy to drop in a Trojan or virus into the VHD/virtual machine and then upload it to BitTorrent.... be warned.

On the Connect site it is unknown at this point whether a full ISO build will be available whether it will be only as a pre-built Virtual Machine.... watch this space.

I think the key thing to note if you DO get the BETA, is please provide feedback to Microsoft. Some previous BETAs have suffered from users evaluating but not providing feedback - which seems a waste of time to me. If you see a glitch report it - the more people who report glitches the better and the more likely Microsoft will fix it or improve it for everyone.

Looks like a bumper Christmas – whilst the kids are outside playing in the snow, we can delve into Windows 7 and try out the new features for real.