free copy of Vista?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
As usual the MVPs are in here to discount any kind of contribuition made by
people who tested Vista under the CPP. I was actually prompted VIA e-mail to
beta test Vista. I did not just go and download it. I was told my
contributions were valuable.

Robert Firth said:
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 *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

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...
 
If you wish to know how the Technical Beta program is different from the
CPP, go to connect.microsoft.com and sign up to be a beta tester. Put in
the hours building a reputation so you'll be selected for OS tests. Then
you'll know.
 
Jupiter,
you've trotted out another of your 'cookie cutter' replies on this issue,
however, if you analyse Robert's post (to which you replied) you will see
that he is essentially in agreeance with you so your reply is unnecessary
superfluous rhetoric.
This is not a personal comment by the way (I don't do that), it's just the
reality.

Robert Firth's posts in this thread are a pleasure to read because he has a
balanced, self deprecating, and realistic point of view on the issues at
hand.
 
Oh yes, the joys of testing Microsoft Update <blech> and various <ho-hum>
Service Packs, and the joys of reinstalling everything when it all goes
horribly wrong. Then there's always the fun of replacing hardware that
didn't survive the thrashing of certain early beta installs. TB isn't
everything that it's cracked up to be sometimes.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Based on what I know of the bug count on Connect, CPP participants
collectiviely submitted no more than a few thousand reports (it could have
been only a few hundred). Connect only lists one overall count but that
count never jumped noticeably when CPP started up and there never was any
noticeable increase in the rate of reporting that I could see.

The overall count (for all beta programs currently on Connect) is about a
quarter million. Longhorn Server accounts for a great many of those but I
assume Vista is the largest number. Dozens of other betas also feed into
the bug data base on connect.

While the total number of TB folks finally hit about 25,000, far more bug
reports came from a few hundred TechBeta folks than any other source. At
least half did very little but those folks who submitted tended to submit
large numbers (dozens to hundreds) each.

In the end it would have been several thousand TB testers and a few hundred
to a few thousand CPP folks (at most) getting the freebie. It would not
have been much of a hit to allow the freebie for CPP participants. I just
don't think it was ever in the cards to offer it to software preview
participants.

Assuming Jim Allchin made the final decision, his comments indicate that he
thought the quality of bug reporting and testing in TB was what was
outstanding. It should have been since there were things in TB like a whole
series of training videos titled "How to File Great Bug Reports".

It really was a pretty well structured program. Testers were provided
scenarios to test each feature during Feature Focus weeks, and on and on.

And keep in mind that although CPP has ended, TechBeta is not done. The
focus has simply shifted to Longhorn Server now that Vista and IE7 for XP
are finished.

Mr. Vista said:
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.

:

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...
 
You bring up a good point. Testing is pretting boring (and often
frustrating). It is probably why MS recruits a lot of IT pros and devs to
do it. They are the folks who are used to doing this sort of thing because
they have to (it's their jobs at work), not because they just love it.
 
*pretty

Colin Barnhorst said:
You bring up a good point. Testing is pretting boring (and often
frustrating). It is probably why MS recruits a lot of IT pros and devs to
do it. They are the folks who are used to doing this sort of thing
because they have to (it's their jobs at work), not because they just love
it.
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top