Since I’m a private beta tester for Microsoft Windows 7, I have the capability to contribute in private chats with Windows 7 product teams to discuss new features, provide feedback and suggestions to the new OS.

During these chats, a SWAG “Stuff We All Get” is offered for best questions (mostly best 3 questions in order of question and not by quality of question) during the chat session.

I won a SWAG before for some cool stuff with Windows 7 Logo on (see image below) with a signed letter from all product team who contributed in the chat session.

Before 2 weeks, I had some free time to login to another chat session about a certain technology in Windows 7 “I’m sorry, I can’t tell due to NDA of chat”, the surprise was that the coolest SWAG in beta chats for Windows 7 is in this chat session.

Here’s the page of the SWAG:

Hot off the presses and in limited supply!

Get yours by being selected as a Best Question Winner in Today's chat

Now available in a boxed set!  Both Beta and RC DVDs

I was very lucky to become a best question winner in this chat! Have a look :-)

I’m still waiting for the package to arrive to home to see the new box set!

That was after 1 week of obtaining non-boxed DVDs for Windows 7 Beta (x86 and x64)  during finalists of Imagine Cup 2009 Software Design local competition as being an official Microsoft Student Partner “MSP”!

Thank you Microsoft :-)

Windows 7 is…
the next release of the Windows client operating system, built on the secure foundation of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Performance, reliability, security, and compatibility are core tenets of this release as we collect your feedback to meet our engineering goals of making Windows 7 the best-performing and most stable Windows operating system to date. New innovations in the product are designed to augment your ability as an IT professional to better provision and manage increasingly mobile PCs, protect data, and improve both end-user and personal productivity. 

See Windows 7 for yourself

We are inviting IT professionals around the world to work with the Windows 7 Beta in their lab environments and secondary PCs to help ensure smooth adoption when the final product is available and to gather feedback from real-world settings.

How can you get involved?

1. Take a look at some of the new features and functionality in Windows 7 as part of our Springboard Series guidance on the Windows Client TechCenter on TechNet. As a partner you can also see additional resources on the Microsoft Partner Program portal.

2. Download the Beta for a hands-on trial.  For a limited time, Microsoft is making this pre-release version of Windows 7 available to the first 2.5 million people who download. Ready to take a test drive? You can get one by trying the Windows 7 Beta. We think you’ll have the best experience if: 

• You are willing to participate as an active beta tester and provide feedback to help us complete Windows 7. 
• You have an extra computer available to dedicate to testing beta software.
• You can back up your PC, install and reinstall Windows, and reconfigure your home network connection.
• You’re comfortable troubleshooting your own PC problems. There’s no technical support available for the Beta.
• You understand how to burn an ISO file to a DVD using your computer’s DVD burner.
• You have a system recovery disc and know how to use it.
• You enjoy participating in an interactive community of beta testers, sharing experiences and feedback in real-time.

Microsoft isn’t providing technical support for the Beta and isn’t responsible for business-related downtime. Don’t install the Beta on your primary home or work computer. When the Beta expires on August 1, 2009, you’ll need to reinstall a released version of Windows to keep using your computer. (See Installation Instructions.)

These are the Microsoft minimum hardware recommendations for systems that will be running the Windows 7 Beta. These recommendations are specific to the beta release and are subject to change:

• Processor: 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• Memory:  1 GB of system memory
• Hard drive: 16 GB of available disk space
• Video card:  Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme)
• Drive: DVD-R/W drive
• Internet connection (to download the Beta and get updates)

Note: Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV or navigation through the use of “touch”, may require advanced or additional hardware. 

To learn more, see Windows 7 Beta: Frequently Asked Questions.

Source: Microsoft TechNet

In an earlier report “Windows 7 Beta is Now Public!” , I’ve declared that Microsoft has removed the Windows 7 Public Beta links and soon Microsoft Windows Team Blogs posted this item:

“Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta. We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and I’ll be posting here again soon once the beta goes live. Stay tuned! We are excited that you are excited!”.

Microsoft reposted this message at 4 PM Pacific Time:

“Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal -- we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We’re sorry for the delay and we’ll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience.”

So, we’re still awaiting!

Microsoft Corporation declared the release of the new operating system Microsoft Windows 7 Beta to public testers today.

Brandon LeBlanc, one of The Windows Team Blogs team stated that:

“On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page on Windows.com. The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 2.5 million people who download the beta.

The Windows 7 Beta will be available in English, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Hindi, and each language will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions (except Hindi which will only be available in 32-bit). “

Other sources from Microsoft Partners website declared the exact time when the link will get published to public as:

“Partners with a MSDN or TechNet subscription can download Windows 7 Beta now. All other partners can download Windows 7 Beta starting January 9, 2009 at 12:00 P.M. Pacific Time. “

Once it became 12 PM, people could be able to access the following link to sign up for the product and receive product keys, when you choose your preferred version (86 or 64) and language and hit the continue (>) button, you will get “Server is too busy” page and won’t be able to proceed with sign-up process.

Few minutes later (12:40), links were soon removed and visitors only get: Windows® 7 Beta coming soon!

If you’re interested in downloading Windows 7 and were lucky to get in, here’s the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx

I hope that Microsoft would get links up again to let users enjoy the “Vista that users were looking forward to”.