Windows 7 public beta to be available Friday to first 2.5 Million people

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday night launched the beta of Windows 7, posting the preview of the company's next operating system to its developer download services.

The general public will be able to download the beta starting Friday, said CEO Steve Ballmer in his opening speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft made it clear that the beta will be available for a "limited time," and said it will cap the beta after the first 2.5 million downloads.

IT professionals and developers who subscribe to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) or TechNet services, however can grab the beta right away, said Ballmer.

Windows 7 will boot more quickly, boast better battery life, and be more reliable than previous versions of Windows, Ballmer said.

Ballmer also announced major partnerships with Facebook, Dell (NSDQ:Dell) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Wireless, deals that will help Microsoft further its cloud ambitions.

The Facebook-Microsoft deal will let Facebook users feed the digital content they post on Facebook into feeds on Windows Live, while the Dell agreement will see the PC maker pre-install Windows Live Essentials on its consumer and small business PCs beginning in February.

Verizon Wireless has agreed to include Live Search on all of its phones in the U.S., giving Microsoft a foothold in mobile search with the nation's largest carrier.

Ballmer also announced updates to the Windows Live Essentials suite of client applications, which includes Windows Live Mail, Live Messenger, Live Writer, and Live Photo Gallery. Windows Live Movie Maker remains in beta.

"Windows is at the center of the technological 'solar system', and we're tying all that information together through the cloud," Ballmer said. "In many ways, connecting all this together is the 'Last Mile' for creating real breakthroughs for customers."


Minimum Requirements for the Beta Version

• PC with a 1GHz processor
  
• 1GB of memory
  
• 16GB of available hard disk space 
  
• Support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory
  
• The beta only supports an upgrade from Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
  
• Beta Expiry Date: Aug 1, 2009
  

Microsoft has not named a launch date for the operating system, other than to say it would deliver Windows 7 by about this time next year. On Wednesday, Ballmer said nothing about ship dates.

The Windows 7 download will be posted to Microsoft's site on Friday, Jan. 9.

Updated: Jan 9th 2009. Click here to download Windows 7 Beta.