Windows 7 is expected to be released some time in January 2009 and interestingly it is already circulating in the bit torrent sites. This has never happened in the history of Windows. The online community is still not out of surprise if not shock. How could this possibly happen. There are number of theories and suspicions going round the web.
You can download this yet to be released version of Windows from many of the popular torrent websites. You can try your luck on the beta version of this new version of windows. If you want the official version of the software, you will have to wait until mid January. However, this will be at a price, but the beta version that is available in the torrent sites can be downloaded for free. If this can happen to Microsoft then, what about our own online security!
One of the reasons for the failure of Vista was that probably Microsoft did not run satisfactory test drive resulting in incompatible device drivers that made the computer owners run helter-skelter as they rushed to upgrade their machines. Once bitten twice shy, as the saying goes, Microsoft this time wants to perform a complete test drive so that it does not run into similar or same problems. Microsoft wants to run the beta version of Windows 7 in as many machines as possible. In this context, there are rumors that Microsoft itself could have leaked out the beta version in the torrent sites! Though makes perfect sense, the question is whether the world renowned software giant would take such a road to run its test drive.
Strangely, Microsoft that spends a lot of its revenue on curbing the piracy of its software has not commented yet about the leaking of its Windows 7. Nor has it taken any positive steps towards stopping the spread of the illegal distribution of the beta version of Windows 7 through the torrent sites. Microsoft’s response and the rumor seems to augur well making us too doubt whether Microsoft would have taken the suggested path to have its software tested.
Now the advantage with such an approach is that if systems crash, Microsoft cannot be held responsible because the version leaked in the torrent sites is not the official version. Probably, Microsoft would have a tracking system to keep a tab on the number of systems the OS is installed in the form of online activation of the beta version. The errors reported through the error reporting mechanism can be easily tracked to improve the software before its complete version is launched.
If you have been waiting for the latest version of Windows OS, it would be prudent to wait for the official and legal version of the software to be launched so that you can make a seamless upgrade. Rather than subjecting yourself to unnecessary risk, waiting for couple of weeks would be a wiser move.