Get Windows 7 for free by hosting a launch party.

[Q3JR4]

Microsoft is finally going to take advantage of the best form of advertising for the next release of Windows: word of mouth. The world's largest software maker has partnered with House Party, apparently the world's leading party organizer, to encourage technology enthusiasts to throw Windows 7 launch parties in their communities between October 22 and October 29.

Microsoft won't let just anyone host such a party though; the company is being very selective. If you're interested in becoming an official host, there's an application process you'll have to go through over at houseparty.com/windows7. Furthermore, the offer is only open to residents of 12 countries: Australia, Italy, Canada, Japan, Mexico, France, Spain, Germany, the US, Hong Kong, the UK, and India.

<snip>

The first step of the application process is simple: you have to tell Microsoft about yourself, how the company can contact you, where to send the Party Pack, and finally pick a screen name and password (for checking the status of your application). After that, you have to confirm that "by applying for a host spot, you are agreeing to conduct yourself in the spirit of House Party—sharing a product you love with the people you love, through an experience that is fun, free, and exclusive"...

<snip>

More http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/get-windows-7-for-free-by-hosting-a-launch-party.ars">here.

I was thinking about it, free copy of windows 7 (which isn't horrible), but the whole "sharing a product you love" thing made me think that it probably wasn't going to work. Anyway, any window-philes out there who are interested, here you go. :)

Q3JR4.

[DainBramaged]

1. They are no longer accepting applications, bummer.

Oh well....................

[elocs]

2. No thank you. Just no. n/t

[thunder rising]

4. All teh computer it belong to us

[ddeclue]

3. We are Microsoft of Borg.. You will be assimilated...resistance is futile.

[KillCapitalism]

5. I already got it free.

:hide:

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. "If you have enjoyed this experience, why not share it with your friends?"

"Because I want to keep them!"

Arthur Dent, in reply to the Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser, manufactured by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (company motto: 'Go Stick Your Head In A Pig'), whom Microsoft is resembling more and more.

Enjoy. (And Share :evilgrin:)

[Lance_Boyle]

7. Not even if Kid and/or Play showed up.

OK, maybe Play.

[EOTE]

8. I'm getting it by attending a Windows 7 Conference in November.

I've been running the beta since around February and the RC since June or so and I love it. It's been incredibly fast and stable and the most problem free version of Windows I think I've ever used. I'm an IT pro, so I'll be getting a family pack of Windows 7 for attending a release conference in November. It's been a while, I can't wait to see what kind of swag they'll have :)

[qb]

13. So Vista really was a conspiracy to make everyone desperate for the next version of Windows?

:shrug:

[EOTE]

25. Nah, Vista was just another hiccup like Windows ME.

A combination of poor coding and poor participation amongst hardware vendors in getting drivers written in a timely manner. Microsoft certainly wasn't blameless when it comes to the drivers issue, but hardware manufacturers need to own up as well. Fortunately, Windows 7 has much better driver compatibility. I wasn't desperate for a new version of Windows because my rigs ran Vista very well, but my computers are a pleasure to use now with Windows 7 on them. I've got an older laptop, a top of the line desktop and HTPC all running Windows 7 now and they all run better than ever. The HTPC really allows Windows 7 to shine as the media capabilities are awesome. My SO has an iPhone and I've used it as a remote for the HTPC and it works flawlessly. It can organize your media collection easily and quickly, it's the most intuitive media player I've ever used and I've used pretty much all of them.

[Statistical]

30. No it was a failure of project management.

Coding large projects requires vision, leadership, hard decisions, and constant supervision.
The Vista management team was weak and allowed the project to suffer from scope creep.

After Vista disaster Microsoft brought the VP from Office (word, excel, etc) division to head up Windows 7. There was a large shakeup. Lots of senior management getting canned, project teams re-aligned. Ambitious goals scaled back. Extra features (windows movie maker, instant message, etc) removed from OS and spun off as a new project (free downloads).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_creep Scope Creep killed Vista.

Someday I would like to get into project management (money is much better) however I love coding to much.

[fascisthunter]

9. no thanks

I already have a kick as system... it's called OS X.

[TommyO]

10. Same here, but I am running Windows 7 under Parallels

and I will say it's the best Windows yet, but I still prefer OS X.

[fascisthunter]

34. I'll probably give it a try...

[Q3JR4]

15. I use Cent OS...

Q3JR4.

[Ron Green]

11. If you're too late for this, you can get in on the ground floor of Amway.

Just PM me.

:P

[MineralMan]

12. Microsoft introduces: Tupperware 7.0.

[gkhouston]

14. "Not even if they're giving it away" takes on a whole new dimension... n/t

[Q3JR4]

16. They gotta give it away.

Without that whole word of mouth thing, how else they gonna get people to spend any money on upgrades?

Q3JR4.

[Kansas Wyatt]

17. What if someone has multiple personalities?

Does that mean they can still have a party by themselves and still get all the gifts?

[Nye Bevan]

18. Very tempting... update all my drivers... reinstall all my software....

naaah, I think I'll pass.

[Deja Q]

24. And the upgrade edition is locked down...

You can only install over an existing, ACTIVATED version of Windows. (No more Windows 2000) And after that, I don't know if it'll let you format... I'd hope so. With the REGISTRY, upgrade installs are a pointless waste of time... (9 hour installs, flaky installs, you name it... )

You can't install Win7 with no key code, reboot, then immediately reinstall it to get around the upgrade activation check... funny how nobody thinks of obvious things when programming all that. Maybe that's why we ALWAYS hear "the (new version) is what the (old version) should have been!"

And after x number of installs, re-activation becomes a tedious phone call...

Even updating the BIOS or, even worse, just a video driver, is all that's needed to trigger the re-activation process...

[Statistical]

31. Not true at all.

The upgrade edition is simply a reduced cost version for those owning a legal copy of XP or Vista. That is all.
You can do a clean install of Windows 7 with upgrade version.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. OS X thank you

and we ain't upgrading any xp to seven until at LEAST SP 1... way too many nightmares with Vista

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

22. From what I understand, W7 is actually based on XP.

I read somewhere it is based on the Windows XP kernal and NOT vista. IMO, it's much less "bulky" than vista and uses very little memory. Despite being a release candidate, 64bit W7 has been very compatible with most programs I've tried. Alot faster and has been nothing but stable for me the past few months.

I've been around for pretty much everything and was, until recently, an OSX guy myself. I very much prefer windows 7 over OSX. Unless I find $1000 in my couch cushions so I can get a nice mac that can dual boot OSX or windows... odds are I'm done with OSX/Macs.

[Statistical]

28. Windows 7 and Vista share the same kernel.

They come from the same development branch.

Vista is just a classic example of scope creep. It has destroyed thousands of projects in research, business, games and operating system in the past and it will do it again for thousands more in the future.

"Blackcomb" was the code name of the project for "post-XP" windows. It began in 2001 and originally was going to be released in 2004. However progress was slow so the Blackcomb project was forked.

One branch continued as Blackcomb which became Windows 7.

The other branch became Longhorn which became Vista.

Vista was intended to be little more than a slightly improved kernel, some bug fixes, and new visuals. More like a "super service pack" for XP. It was suppose to be a temporary placeholder until 7 was ready.

The project management for Vista was horrible. It kept getting delayed, and delayed, and more features added, and more changes, and more bugs. Finally it was released simply because of economics. It was more a failure of management than a failure of science.

Developers need a very narrow defined path without it they tend to flounder in large projects. I hate management team but at the same time I have coded for companies with poor project management procedures/people and the results are rarely pretty.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

33. Probably. I only read that XP kernal thing.

I'm not really into programming structure or know much about it.
I just know I turn on a computer and how to operate it.

The only time I ever programmed was back when Xboxes were being hacked.
Boy that was fun (and frustrating).

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. To each their own. I love the stabilty of my OS x macbook

which I type from currently.

And the Gaming Rig was "upgraded" from Vista to XP Pro... after that nightmare I am not a fan of windows.

Hell, if all the games were available for OS X, we would have fully migrated the full household.

Yes, I am that un-happy with it...

The nightmares were legendary.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

20. Is this the W7 release candidate... or the actual Windows 7?

I have the release candidate for a few months now.I only had 1 blue screen due to overclocking my memmory. Turned it back down to 1.8v (8GB DDR3 1333mhz) and Windows 7 has run flawless and very fast. Overall, I like W7 more than XP - I hated Vista.

I would be very interested in getting an actual Windows 7 release free.

[Statistical]

23. It the actual retail version that is free.

Students can get a copy right now for just $29.

I have been running 7 almost a years now first on beta then on Release Candidate and it has far exceeded my expectations. It is like the best of XP with improved visuals, security, performance. Vista will like Windows Millennium Edition and quickly disappear.

I do software development so I have 8GB of ram and that requires x64 version of Windows.
Windows x64 has no driver support
Vista x64 has horrible performance.
Not really a good choice.

The BETA of Windows 7 was better than any previous launch of an OS that I have seen. Release Candidate installed a smooth as silk. Code was locked down since RC (no need features only bug fixes & performance improvements). The final retail will be even better.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

27. The key is to simply get every OTHER version of Windows.

Just steer clear of the NEXT Windows after W7 and get the following edition. I was lucky to have avoided Windows ME and Vista altogether.
I did have Windows 95 for awhile... but it was so superior to Windows X.X that it's shortcomings could be easily overlooked.

[Deja Q]

21. Sorry, I prefer professional computers and operating systems not written by dilettante hacks.

Even free open-source offerings have more in their favor...

[madrchsod]

26. i`ve been using 7 for two months....it`s way better than X

it waste a complete waste of time and money for micro-shit to have developed vista. but that`s microshit...put out a shitty program while developing a winner.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

32. Agreed. I think 7 is better than X.

Although I have not tried that "Snow Leopard" or whatever other endangered species OSX is naming themselves after nowadays.