Windows 7 public beta arrives, Zune phone does not

By Microsoft Subnet on Thu, 01/08/09 - 12:14pm.

After all the countless rumors of what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer planned to announce during his CES keynote speech in Las Vegas last night, the speech itself might have been a bit of a letdown. On the one hand, he announced a publicly available version of a Windows 7 beta -- which is what the enterprise is most curious to investigate. Everyone already had plenty of access to hacked, BitTorrent versions of earlier betas -- but suffice it to say testing an unauthorized version of a new OS isn't the way an enterprise IT organization wants to operate. This beta version is available to MSDN, TechBeta and TechNet customers, Microsoft said, with all invited to test-drive it as of Jan. 9.

Interestingly, Microsoft hasn't yet confirmed a faster timeline for shipping Windows 7 (still officially supposed to arrive in 2010). But, with a public beta in January, predictions from the blogosphere earlier this week that it will at least be released to its manufacturers around July, 2009, are looking more and more likely to be true. Microsoft has already begun the long, difficult dance with its channel to keep the impending arrival of Windows 7 from putting an end to PC sales. PCs bought within a certain time frame before Windows 7 arrives will be eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade. (However, the ongoing "Vista-capable" lawsuit -- in which XP machines that claimed to be able to run Vista could only run the barest, most stripped down version -- should make enterprises think twice about falling for upgrade-ready promises.)

On the other hand, the rumored Zune phone did not materialize. Microsoft's big announcement regarding mobility centered around partnerships including a Netflix application for Windows Mobile, due later this month, that lets people order movies and update their queue from their phone. Changes to a queue can be seen on Netflix on Xbox LIVE, a service that launched in November. Microsoft also highlighted its controversial "new" Windows Mobile browser -- which power users have been scoffing. Plus, Ballmer showcased the new-and-improved Windows Live and noted a partnership with Dell for Live Search and Windows Live Essentials (a free suite of Web applications for instant messaging, e-mail and photos that complement Windows Live). Dell will be pre-loading Windows Live Essentials on its PCs as of February. The Internet search/browsing/GPS deal with Verizon, leaked yesterday by the WSJ, was also confirmed.

Another highlight of the speech was a demo by Robbie Bach and Sparrow Buerer who showed off Kodu, a programming concepts game available via Xbox Live Community. This was part of Microsoft's vision for unified entertainment screens -- in which it will be competing with Cisco and others touting similar concepts.