I got the download finished at 14.50 off to install..

Downloading from Technet also at the moment.

me.

I am not privileged enough to get Win7 from TechNet/MSDN, nor am I one of the handful who were invited into the closed beta. I'm still waiting on OEM copies from e-tailers... which I hope will be soon and prior to retail street date.

Don't worry... You're not alone. Someone please make it very obvious when the OEM discs hit Newegg!

You mean you're getting a free copy of the OS Final RTM? Why don't I believe that? Maybe because M$ doesn't give anything away for free?

If it were ready, why wouldn't they put it on the market, or deliver it to those who prepaid/preordered?

You have to be a technet plus subscriber and that's a $349 yearly subscription.

Yep, I understood that...I thought you were posting that this was free for technet subscribers. Actually it's far from free, and it's Technet Plus subscribers....those folks are IT Pros and the subscription is generally thru a business/Corp. They'd probably get a better deal from M$ anyway.

I can wait, but it's a good example of how not to market. The idea of a 'privileged some' rankles when one preordered. Not smart marketing, but it's part of their purchase contract of the subscription. I wonder if Apple does that?

Thanks for the news flash, though.

Releasing RTM software to TechNet and MSDN subscribers early has always been known. It's not marketing but rather a stage to prepare for the public retail release. Assume that MS made the OS available for purchase as soon as it hit RTM for a bit. Consider the consequences that bring of releasing an OS that is freshly finished with nearly no software to fully take advantage of the features the OS has. Sure some old software will work. But they are old, oudated, and may be using old API calls that isn't available any more. The reason why I say that I wasn't privileged to get it is because I do not have a subscription to either of the two. And getting one is very costly for an individual. I envy those who have access to a TechNet or MSDN subscription. They, as we all know, get all the goodies early, and legitimately too. The rest of us, the end users, are left sitting here drooling as they get to play with the new OS months before the general retail release. The fact that ID and many others at Stardock are getting this right now means that they have the RTM to work with as they finish up WB7 and make other apps fully compatible with Win7.

Re: #16 *cough*illegalcopy*cough* Word to the wise. Never flaunt your shady acquisitions. And none of us are complaining about the wait. We are merely anxious to get our hands on it. The Stardock folks are able to get their hands on it legitimately through proper channels (TechNet/MSDN). They are allowed to do so because they have access to such resources. It is also available to others who have access to that resource because they are the ones who need to prepare their software and hardware for Windows 7. End users will need to wait because they will be the one to use these same hardware and software.

Myself I'm ready to start testing Windows 8 beta or whatever! Oh and 64 bit please!

Well I can not say that doc... I got a free copy of MS Office Ultimate 2007 for beta testing Vista. That and a few other things that went along with that too.

Plus I have seen where a few people got a free copy of Windows 7 for beta testing it!

So I would not say anything about not getting something from MS. They do reward people for helping them out with things. As such would be software and/or even other good stuff.

Even Stardock has done it's share at rewarding people with good stuff like softwares and/or other great things for helping out.

Good things always comes to people that take things properly and they work hard to keep it going in the right directions.

1. I was pointing out that these folks pay for the privilege.

2. Sweat equity (i.e. developing/contributing) should buy something but in reality M$ makes plenty of $ on those people (and the "Beta testers" who really got nothing but playing with 7 before RTM, while M$ prepped the market and got plenty of free feedback.

3. M$ is doing it this way maybe to help developers, i.e. having others plough the field and plant so M$ can come along amd 'harvest'... and, they (M$) makes $$$ coming and going this way and encourages subscriptions, too...more $.

As Danny Davito asked, "What's better than money?"....."Other people's money."

As in "History of The Obscure" by Missing Entity.