Microsoft releases beta version of Vista
Fancy a glimpse into the future? Well, you can see what Microsoft has to offer with the release of a public beta version of its forthcoming operating system, Windows Vista.
It’s not for wide public use or for use on your main machine – Microsoft is at pains to emphasise that it is intended for developers, IT professionals and technology experts for testing purposes. Users must feel comfortable with installing operating systems, updating drivers, and general PC troubleshooting, as the risks of using it include hardware and software incompatibility and system instability.
Microsoft also points out that once the software is installed, you will not be able to "roll-back" to the previous operating system – you must either install the final Vista release or re-install an older version of Windows.
Vista is available in English, German and Japanese and in 32-bit or 64-bit versions. You can download it or order it on DVD from here.
More Microsoft:
Microsoft offers beta version of IE7
Details of Microsoft’s Vista
