free copy of Vista?

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Hi, I heard that if you have signed up for a vista RC key then you would
recieve a free copy of any Vista OS you choose. Is this true?
 
Not for the Customer Preview Program. Those in the Technical Beta Program on
Connect were given a free copy if they had filed at least one bug. This is
separate from the CPP.

Those that received a free copy were notified by email over a week ago.

Robert Firth
http://www.winvistainfo.org
 
Oleg said:
Hi, I heard that if you have signed up for a vista RC key then you
would
recieve a free copy of any Vista OS you choose. Is this true?
Click to expand...

No - it is not true.
 
Hi Oleg,

No, it is not true. This rumor came about as some members of the technical
beta program (which is very different from the public cpp program) were
offered a free copy.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Also untrue: the rumor that if you go to your local GM dealership and take
a free test drive in a prototype Camaro, you can get a free one when they
come out.

Rich
 
That is a Rich statement.


Rich Milburn said:
Also untrue: the rumor that if you go to your local GM dealership and
take a free test drive in a prototype Camaro, you can get a free one when
they come out.

Rich
Click to expand...
 
" No - it is not true." ... even if you did contribute to the Beta testing
by submitting bug reports.
 
How is the so called technical beta different? People who tested VIA the CPP
submitted bugs too, and worked hard to better the product. Not recognizing
CPP people is unfair, and just plain shortsighted.
 
It is different for many reasons. The TechBeta has a smaller number of
participants, and the CPP was open to anyone who wanted to join. If MS gave
the CPP all RTM, they would be out tons of money. The CPP and TechBeta both
had different focuses.

--
Tom Ziegmann
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft Core OS TechBeta Tester

Windows Vista Ultimate RTM
WEI: 5.7
 
CPP was not a beta testing program. It was a preview program. Bug reports
were accepted from CPP participants and addressed, but CPP folks were not
signed up by Microsoft for the purpose of testing Vista for Microsoft, only
for themselves.
 
The Technical Access Program (TechBeta) is a far smaller number of
enthusiasts and IT professionals (usually). These people pretty much were
"required" to test various aspects of the program, submit feedback, join in
on discussions, complete surveys, complete various tests, as well as
generally deal with the hassle of using a vastly incomplete OS for a lot of
core abilities, sometimes being met with crashes, bugs, and
incompatibilities in the worst moments. I forgot to mention the fact that
there were many builds of the OS, many of which involved cleaning your Vista
installation and starting fresh.

There was no "guarantee" for reward, and there never is. The Windows Dev
Team does this out of the kindness of their hearts, a sort of "thank you"
for helping with the development of the product in scenarios that they could
not test themselves.

The CPP program, on the other hand, is completely voluntary for
participation. It was more or less "released to the wild" to see the types
of feedback they would get from normal, everyday average users (business and
home enthusiasts). Submitting a bug was not required and neither was any
deep participation necessary. If you submitted a bug (and I'm sure many did,
and I'm sure the Windows Dev Team is greatful), it was out of your own good
will (or frustration!).

All Windows users should be greatful for the bug reports submitted by every
person who participated in both the TAP and CPP programs, as this is one
less problem they have to deal with when they purchase a computer with it.
The TAP was just significantly more involved, that's all.
 
Tom,
to be fair to Jon Accord, he did mention 'bug submitters', and that does not
necessarily include all of CPP.
Therefore your statement "If MS gave the CPP all RTM, they would be out tons
of money", whilst true, is misleading in the current context.
 
You have a point, but Microsoft had to draw the line somewhere if they were
going to make any money. They gave about 20,000 copies away to tech beta
testers (TBT) out of a total of 30,000 testers. Imagine how many copies they
would have to give away if they gave it to all the contributors in the
Customer Preview Program (CPP)? The 'limited time' offer for RC2 was
downloaded by 200,000 people. Beta 2 went to 2 million people. Maybe a
fraction of those people contributed significantly, but that is still a
significant price.

You are right, CPP members did contribute. However the two programs are
focused at different groups and for different purposes. Many members of the
CPP would have made excellent testers in the TB, and many TBT did not
contribute at all. It happens. Fortunately, those who did not contribute
were not rewarded. I know many people here that should have been in the TB.

The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and ask
questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts.

Technically, I'd say, the Customer Preview Program is technology enthusianst
and others who wish to try out the latest and greatest.

The point is that the programs are different, even if some people fit in
both catagories.

This is a very sticky point, but it is unreasonable to expect a gift from
volunteer work. It is controversial enough that Microsoft gave TBT's a free
copy in the first place. Microsoft may have a lot of money, but they have
shareholders to think about as well.

I believe a 6 month trial would be better suited for the CPP. The program is
simply to large to give everyone a free retail copy. Lots of gray area, buy
it is the size of the program that screams "ain't gonna happen, no way."

I'll be looking forward to CH's response on the elitist attitude protrayed
in this post. I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here
along with truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will
have to be blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an
insult is a joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I overlooked
will likely be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you don't
understand... blame it on the French. Please excuse me for trying.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
 
ummm
ok
the french did it
lol

Robert Firth said:
You have a point, but Microsoft had to draw the line somewhere if they
were going to make any money. They gave about 20,000 copies away to tech
beta testers (TBT) out of a total of 30,000 testers. Imagine how many
copies they would have to give away if they gave it to all the
contributors in the Customer Preview Program (CPP)? The 'limited time'
offer for RC2 was downloaded by 200,000 people. Beta 2 went to 2 million
people. Maybe a fraction of those people contributed significantly, but
that is still a significant price.

You are right, CPP members did contribute. However the two programs are
focused at different groups and for different purposes. Many members of
the CPP would have made excellent testers in the TB, and many TBT did not
contribute at all. It happens. Fortunately, those who did not contribute
were not rewarded. I know many people here that should have been in the
TB.

The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and
ask questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts.

Technically, I'd say, the Customer Preview Program is technology
enthusianst and others who wish to try out the latest and greatest.

The point is that the programs are different, even if some people fit in
both catagories.

This is a very sticky point, but it is unreasonable to expect a gift from
volunteer work. It is controversial enough that Microsoft gave TBT's a
free copy in the first place. Microsoft may have a lot of money, but they
have shareholders to think about as well.

I believe a 6 month trial would be better suited for the CPP. The program
is simply to large to give everyone a free retail copy. Lots of gray area,
buy it is the size of the program that screams "ain't gonna happen, no
way."

I'll be looking forward to CH's response on the elitist attitude protrayed
in this post. I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here
along with truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will
have to be blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an
insult is a joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I
overlooked will likely be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you
don't understand... blame it on the French. Please excuse me for trying.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

Jon Acord said:
How is the so called technical beta different? People who tested VIA the
CPP
submitted bugs too, and worked hard to better the product. Not
recognizing
CPP people is unfair, and just plain shortsighted.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thats a good point. Perhaps a discount coupon towards the purchase of the
Vista edition of your choice for CPP testers who contributed bug reports
would go a long way in showing appreciation recognition of the effort
involved. I would welcome an olive branch at this point.

Robert Firth said:
You have a point, but Microsoft had to draw the line somewhere if they were
going to make any money. They gave about 20,000 copies away to tech beta
testers (TBT) out of a total of 30,000 testers. Imagine how many copies they
would have to give away if they gave it to all the contributors in the
Customer Preview Program (CPP)? The 'limited time' offer for RC2 was
downloaded by 200,000 people. Beta 2 went to 2 million people. Maybe a
fraction of those people contributed significantly, but that is still a
significant price.

You are right, CPP members did contribute. However the two programs are
focused at different groups and for different purposes. Many members of the
CPP would have made excellent testers in the TB, and many TBT did not
contribute at all. It happens. Fortunately, those who did not contribute
were not rewarded. I know many people here that should have been in the TB.

The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and ask
questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts.

Technically, I'd say, the Customer Preview Program is technology enthusianst
and others who wish to try out the latest and greatest.

The point is that the programs are different, even if some people fit in
both catagories.

This is a very sticky point, but it is unreasonable to expect a gift from
volunteer work. It is controversial enough that Microsoft gave TBT's a free
copy in the first place. Microsoft may have a lot of money, but they have
shareholders to think about as well.

I believe a 6 month trial would be better suited for the CPP. The program is
simply to large to give everyone a free retail copy. Lots of gray area, buy
it is the size of the program that screams "ain't gonna happen, no way."

I'll be looking forward to CH's response on the elitist attitude protrayed
in this post. I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here
along with truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will
have to be blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an
insult is a joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I overlooked
will likely be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you don't
understand... blame it on the French. Please excuse me for trying.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

Jon Acord said:
How is the so called technical beta different? People who tested VIA the
CPP
submitted bugs too, and worked hard to better the product. Not
recognizing
CPP people is unfair, and just plain shortsighted.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
That's what happens when I try to write stuff this late at night. Don't
worry, it isn't making sense to me right now either. I thought I could come
up with a good answer, but everytime I typed it, it looked wrong.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here along with
truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will have to be
blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an insult is a
joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I overlooked will likely
be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you don't understand... blame
it on the French.


Jeff said:
ummm
ok
the french did it
lol

Robert Firth said:
You have a point, but Microsoft had to draw the line somewhere if they
were going to make any money. They gave about 20,000 copies away to tech
beta testers (TBT) out of a total of 30,000 testers. Imagine how many
copies they would have to give away if they gave it to all the
contributors in the Customer Preview Program (CPP)? The 'limited time'
offer for RC2 was downloaded by 200,000 people. Beta 2 went to 2 million
people. Maybe a fraction of those people contributed significantly, but
that is still a significant price.

You are right, CPP members did contribute. However the two programs are
focused at different groups and for different purposes. Many members of
the CPP would have made excellent testers in the TB, and many TBT did not
contribute at all. It happens. Fortunately, those who did not contribute
were not rewarded. I know many people here that should have been in the
TB.

The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and
ask questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts.

Technically, I'd say, the Customer Preview Program is technology
enthusianst and others who wish to try out the latest and greatest.

The point is that the programs are different, even if some people fit in
both catagories.

This is a very sticky point, but it is unreasonable to expect a gift from
volunteer work. It is controversial enough that Microsoft gave TBT's a
free copy in the first place. Microsoft may have a lot of money, but they
have shareholders to think about as well.

I believe a 6 month trial would be better suited for the CPP. The program
is simply to large to give everyone a free retail copy. Lots of gray
area, buy it is the size of the program that screams "ain't gonna happen,
no way."

I'll be looking forward to CH's response on the elitist attitude
protrayed in this post. I've tried my best to accurately represent my
thoughts here along with truth. Whatever happens to this post after I
push "send" will have to be blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything
that looks like an insult is a joke. Anything I left out is "By Design",
anything I overlooked will likely be "Fixed in a future build [post]".
Anything you don't understand... blame it on the French. Please excuse me
for trying.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

Jon Acord said:
How is the so called technical beta different? People who tested VIA
the CPP
submitted bugs too, and worked hard to better the product. Not
recognizing
CPP people is unfair, and just plain shortsighted.

:

Hi Oleg,

No, it is not true. This rumor came about as some members of the
technical
beta program (which is very different from the public cpp program) were
offered a free copy.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

Hi, I heard that if you have signed up for a vista RC key then you
would
recieve a free copy of any Vista OS you choose. Is this true?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I spelled "portrayed" wrong. Go figure. Uh, I'll say that was "By Design" as
well.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here along with
truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will have to be
blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an insult is a
joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I overlooked will likely
be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you don't understand... blame
it on the French.


Robert Firth said:
You have a point, but Microsoft had to draw the line somewhere if they
were going to make any money. They gave about 20,000 copies away to tech
beta testers (TBT) out of a total of 30,000 testers. Imagine how many
copies they would have to give away if they gave it to all the
contributors in the Customer Preview Program (CPP)? The 'limited time'
offer for RC2 was downloaded by 200,000 people. Beta 2 went to 2 million
people. Maybe a fraction of those people contributed significantly, but
that is still a significant price.

You are right, CPP members did contribute. However the two programs are
focused at different groups and for different purposes. Many members of
the CPP would have made excellent testers in the TB, and many TBT did not
contribute at all. It happens. Fortunately, those who did not contribute
were not rewarded. I know many people here that should have been in the
TB.

The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and
ask questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts.

Technically, I'd say, the Customer Preview Program is technology
enthusianst and others who wish to try out the latest and greatest.

The point is that the programs are different, even if some people fit in
both catagories.

This is a very sticky point, but it is unreasonable to expect a gift from
volunteer work. It is controversial enough that Microsoft gave TBT's a
free copy in the first place. Microsoft may have a lot of money, but they
have shareholders to think about as well.

I believe a 6 month trial would be better suited for the CPP. The program
is simply to large to give everyone a free retail copy. Lots of gray area,
buy it is the size of the program that screams "ain't gonna happen, no
way."

I'll be looking forward to CH's response on the elitist attitude protrayed
in this post. I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here
along with truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will
have to be blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an
insult is a joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I
overlooked will likely be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you
don't understand... blame it on the French. Please excuse me for trying.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

Jon Acord said:
How is the so called technical beta different? People who tested VIA the
CPP
submitted bugs too, and worked hard to better the product. Not
recognizing
CPP people is unfair, and just plain shortsighted.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Robert,
No one has suggested that MS reward "all the contributors in the Customer
Preview Program (CPP)", so the idea of having to "Imagine how many copies"
would be required is irrelevant.
As you have stated, the number of CPPs who "contributed significantly" is a
"fraction" of the total number. Unless MS reveal this figure none of us
will know. At least in the Technical Beta Testers group the 'fraction'
appears to be 2/3, or 66% for the decimally inclined.

Your comment re the TBT:
"The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and
ask questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts."
Click to expand...

is quite an accurate description. The only thing I could add to this is the
'family' tends to be too exclusive and thus runs the risk of becoming
incestuous.



Robert Firth said:
You have a point, but Microsoft had to draw the line somewhere if they
were going to make any money. They gave about 20,000 copies away to tech
beta testers (TBT) out of a total of 30,000 testers. Imagine how many
copies they would have to give away if they gave it to all the
contributors in the Customer Preview Program (CPP)? The 'limited time'
offer for RC2 was downloaded by 200,000 people. Beta 2 went to 2 million
people. Maybe a fraction of those people contributed significantly, but
that is still a significant price.

You are right, CPP members did contribute. However the two programs are
focused at different groups and for different purposes. Many members of
the CPP would have made excellent testers in the TB, and many TBT did not
contribute at all. It happens. Fortunately, those who did not contribute
were not rewarded. I know many people here that should have been in the
TB.

The technical beta program is a family. The program has its own private
newsgroups and access to several microsoft employees. The group discusses
many issues, people participate in feature focus', fill out surveys, and
ask questions in moderated chats. This program is ideally suited for IT
professionals, developers, and serious technology enthusiansts.

Technically, I'd say, the Customer Preview Program is technology
enthusianst and others who wish to try out the latest and greatest.

The point is that the programs are different, even if some people fit in
both catagories.

This is a very sticky point, but it is unreasonable to expect a gift from
volunteer work. It is controversial enough that Microsoft gave TBT's a
free copy in the first place. Microsoft may have a lot of money, but they
have shareholders to think about as well.

I believe a 6 month trial would be better suited for the CPP. The program
is simply to large to give everyone a free retail copy. Lots of gray area,
buy it is the size of the program that screams "ain't gonna happen, no
way."

I'll be looking forward to CH's response on the elitist attitude protrayed
in this post. I've tried my best to accurately represent my thoughts here
along with truth. Whatever happens to this post after I push "send" will
have to be blaimed on the Belgian Squirels. Anything that looks like an
insult is a joke. Anything I left out is "By Design", anything I
overlooked will likely be "Fixed in a future build [post]". Anything you
don't understand... blame it on the French. Please excuse me for trying.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

Jon Acord said:
How is the so called technical beta different? People who tested VIA the
CPP
submitted bugs too, and worked hard to better the product. Not
recognizing
CPP people is unfair, and just plain shortsighted.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
The CPP and Tech Beta are different programs with different objectives and
different management.
Each program management managed their own program appropriate to their need.

The CPP is exactly what the name suggests, it is a program where customers
can preview the upcoming software for whatever reason suits their needs.
The CPP program requires nothing of their participants.
On the other hand, the Tech Beta are tasked testing and reporting problems
with the ultimate purpose of improving the product.
The Tech Beta are required to identify and report bugs etc.

No one in either program or any of the other programs such as TAP etc were
promised anything by their program management.
Everyone in all programs got at least what was expected or promised.
The Tech Beta management decided some of their members will get Vista.
What the other programs management decided is up to them and the management
of one program in no way determines what another program management should
or will do.
Nothing suggests one group worked harder or less than another.

Yes it is fair since everyone got at least what was expected.
 
Mr. Vista said:
is quite an accurate description. The only thing I could add to this
is the 'family' tends to be too exclusive and thus runs the risk of
becoming incestuous.
Click to expand...

Well that's kinda up to Microsoft. Hopefully next time, they'll look at the
techbeta group and the CPP contributors and maybe not invite some of the
current techbeta crew back and extend an invitation to people in the CPP who
posted a lot of bugs.

As I've already said in another thread, I was surprised for two reasons to
be offered a copy of Vista myself. Firstly I didn't expect the offer at all,
and secondly, I really am not at all impressed with Vista and outside of
testing builds to see if it was still as bad as I thought, I didn't work
that hard at testing.

I think I must have done little more than the bare minimum required to
qualify for a gift and there were certainly people in the CPP who did more
than me. As I've also mentioned before, I don't think anyone can reasonable
'expect' a gift because that isn't how gifts work, but there are plenty of
people out there in the CPP who were more worthy than I was. It's a shame
that Microsoft aren't doing more to recognise them.

Regards
Rob.
 
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