Microsoft is making us working for free

[hunky]

Concerning Windows 7 download, we are just playing slave for Microsoft, because it made everyone download its Windows 7 beta, report them all the bugs we find, they would fix them all, and after that just canceled the copy we downloaded and tells us: Thank you, now just go to the store and pay US$800,00 for the version you helped improve.

 

[Jasson67]

Corporate America at its finest.

 

[winterknight]

ObLinuxPlug: Use Linux instead.

 

[Kins123]

I'm not sure if MS does this but I know that some companies give you a free copy of the final software when you report a bug.

 

[trinket]

Concerning Windows 7 download, we are just playing slave for Microsoft, because it made everyone download its Windows 7 beta, report them all the bugs we find, they would fix them all, and after that just canceled the copy we downloaded and tells us: Thank you, now just go to the store and pay US$800,00 for the version you helped improve.

You have a point there, but remember one common perception I've heard amongst consumers and seen stressed again and again in tech publications is that there's thinking that Microsoft releases software that's frequently "not quite ready for prime-time"; and that it then scurries to release patches or service packs to resolve issues that should've been quashed much earlier in the product's development cycle (or, in more extreme cases, they'll just drop planned features so they can meet marketing targets - like the long-touted WinFS file system). In fairness, given the amount of hardware and software asked to play well with an OS, no in-house or select group of beta testers can catch everything.

But look at it this way: Now the consumers are taking the reigns. Finally Microsoft is actually calling something that behaves like an "in progress" product an actual beta! It's our chance to use, report everything that's wrong, try to break it, etc. I think this will be an advantage, actually - and given Vista's lukewarm reception, the free Windows 7 beta will let people who want to give it a peek (both those who have used Vista and those who stuck with XP) see how it performs and possibly get hooked on it. From a marketing strategy perspective it's pretty good thinking of them.

 

[andysayshi]

Remember that participating in Microsoft's Beta program is entirely voluntary. If you don't want to use the Windows 7 Beta, nobody is forcing you to do so.

Microsoft simply can't afford another debacle like Vista, and that's no doubt why they are using such a major Beta program this time around. But I agree that the cost factor is important - personally, I think Vista owners should be able to upgrade to Win 7 for under a hundred bucks.

 

[AstareGod]

I'm not sure if MS does this but I know that some companies give you a free copy of the final software when you report a bug.

I was one of the public beta testers for Vista back in 2006. When they released the product (Nov 2006 for businesses, Jan 2007 for everyone else) they did give out free copies to people who reported (I think) 10 bugs, but those people were only from a select group of testers. People who were in the public beta program got no compensation. However, it's great to be on the edge of a product's development and to be one of the only few who use it day-to-day before it's actually available in stores.