MICROSOIT MADE THE Windows 7 beta available for public download during the second week of January. On its Windows 7 website Microsoft: posted a note saying "The Windows 7 Beta is now available for download" and listed a page where the beta can be downloaded. At the keynote for the CES in Las Vegas earlier, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said 8th of January would be the date for beta rollout.

Microsoft: struggled to keep its Web site online as users overloaded the company's servers. Microsoft:'s main Web site and the download page were oft:en unreachable. Originally slated to start on 8th January 2008, the day of the launch, Windows 7's public debut was post poned by Microsoft:, which cited "very heavy traffic" across its Web properties. "Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to Microsoft:.com properties" a spokeswoman said.

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Company officials said activation keys for the code would be capped at 2.5 mil¬lion, but users who try the beta aft:er that limit is reached will be able to trial it for at least 30 days. Microsoft: says the version of Windows 7 available now is "feature complete," which means that the functionality of the OS will not change much, if at all. The new OS appears to be require less of a jump up in hardware capability than Vista did.

The minimum system requirements Microsoft: suggests for beta testers include a 1GHz processor, 1GB of main memory, 16GB of avaifable disk space, and support for DX9 graphics.