Windows 7 Beta Product Keys Now Available (For Real!)
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After a daylong rollercoaster drama during which Windows 7 Beta gave us a false-alarm release followed by a server smackdown, Microsoft is finally handing out honest to goodness product keys for the beta. Update: Gina says, "If the instructions below don't work for you—and they didn't for me when this was posted on Friday night or on Saturday morning—try these links, which did." Reader Daniel says: The following steps worked for me: Login in you Passport account, for example, here. Without closing the Passport page, open one of the following in a new tab:Windows 7 Beta 32-bitWindows 7 Beta 64-bit The 32-bit link may need to be refreshed many times, about 15 for me until it worked. I gave it a try, and the same worked for me and several Lifehacker commenters. I'm guessing these servers are going to take the same sort of hits we saw earlier today, so your mileage may vary. Other Lifehacker editors are reporting redirects when they try it, as are many commenters. Oy. One reader suggests that keys are only going out to those who registered earlier today, before the beta was taken down. We can't confirm this, but it seems to hold true for what we're experiencing here at Lifehacker HQ. It's been a long day, Windows enthusiasts, so smoke 'em if you got 'em. If you were able to secure the download and a key (or just the download, really, since it works just fine without the key for at least a month), here's how to install and dual-boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista for your weekend project.