Windows Vista & Office 2007 Beta 2 Released

Windows Vista & Office 2007 Beta 2 Released

Tom Warren on 23 May 2006 - 18:51 · 184 comments & 94340 views

Advertisement (Why?)

Microsoft announced today that both Windows Vista Beta 2 and Office 2007 Beta 2 are released as public betas today.

Windows Vista Beta 2 carries the tag - 5384.4-060518-1455 and Office 2007 Beta 2 is build 12.0.4017.1006

Both are available for download from connect/MSDN and Office is available publically. We are told that Vista should be available publically shortly.

Download: Office 2007 Beta 2 Download

View: Windows Vista Beta 2

View: Neowin WinHEC 2006 Blog

Download: Office 2007 Beta 2 Download

About the Author

Full name: Tom Warren
User name: creamhackered
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: View All
More: View Bio New!

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 184 additional comments

(1 reply) #1 Hubert J Farnsworth on 23 May 2006 - 18:53

Getting this when trying to download:

An unknown error occurred while processing your request. This is most likely due to a connection failure. Please try again.

#1.1 mundox on 23 May 2006 - 19:07

Quote - Hubert J Farnsworth said @ #1

Getting this when trying to download:

An unknown error occurred while processing your request. This is most likely due to a connection failure. Please try again.

yep i'm getting that too...

#2 oatmeals on 23 May 2006 - 18:54

It's too busy.

#3 metalguy90 on 23 May 2006 - 19:08

indeed.... its super busy....
no matter what i try to download....
just have to wait...

(1 reply) #4 madnuke on 23 May 2006 - 19:08

I can't even get on Connect.

#4.1 bobp on 24 May 2006 - 03:18

DITTO!

So annoying, I want Beta 2

#5 Sniper101 on 23 May 2006 - 19:09

Thanks for the News Tim

#6 DrDrrae on 23 May 2006 - 19:10

I'm downloading it but the download speed keeps dropping. It satarted steady around 730KB/s but is now steady around 260KB/s.

Edit: Now back up in the 600s.

#7 stifler6478 on 23 May 2006 - 19:12

bah. Stupid failing website

-Spenser

#8 rob.derosa on 23 May 2006 - 19:14

am downloading now

#9 styn...big wlmesser P on 23 May 2006 - 19:15

wow, vista wil go public......awesome!

(2 replies) #10 focusdriver114 on 23 May 2006 - 19:15

can u upgrade to retail from this vista beta or is that from release candidtates?

#10.1 Computer Guru on 23 May 2006 - 19:25

Nope, sorry!

#10.2 M118LR on 23 May 2006 - 19:32

If they do the same with Vista as they did with XP RC's, you will have to uninstall the RC's first. No upgrade from RC's to RTM.

#11 jhatcher16 on 23 May 2006 - 19:16

Well, I can't even get on login.passport.com or login.live.com

So I guess I'll wait.

#12 MMaster23 on 23 May 2006 - 19:23

yup ... getting all kinds of errors... overloaded i gues. i wait a day

#13 TheReaperMan on 23 May 2006 - 19:27

getting vista no problem. but office just keeps crashing out :<

(7 replies) #14 rishid on 23 May 2006 - 19:27

Here is a link to Office Beta 2. Right click and save as. Should be pretty quick.

#14.1 MtDewCodeRedFreak on 23 May 2006 - 19:31

What about FrontPage, OneNote, Project Pro, and Visio Pro?

#14.2 NightmarE D on 23 May 2006 - 19:37

Microsoft Expression Web Designer is pretty much Frontpage with the ability to use newer code.

#14.3 Omega Prime on 23 May 2006 - 19:42

Thanks! I've been trying to login to the SmartSource page and it kept saying my email was invalid, so I hope this works

#14.4 TheReaperMan on 23 May 2006 - 19:43

thanls for that link,

#14.5 MtDewCodeRedFreak on 23 May 2006 - 19:54

I already have that 440-MB Office 2007 Beta 2 file and Groove 2007 Beta 2 too as well.

That's why I asked if you can post a link to download SharePoint Designer (I'd still call it by the old name "FrontPage" anyway, thank you), OneNote, Project Pro, and Visio Pro 2007 Beta 2's.

#14.6 LoTioN on 23 May 2006 - 21:12

Quote - rishid said @ #14

Here is a link to Office Beta 2. Right click and save as. Should be pretty quick.

Great, got the whole thing in less than 5 mins! Thnx

#14.7 fobban on 23 May 2006 - 22:21

Great link! 7.04 MB/s. Didn't even have time to login and reply before it had finished downloading

#15 OhMuffin on 23 May 2006 - 19:28

wow, the servers are getting hammered. I cant even login because eveything is down...

#16 eminem213486 on 23 May 2006 - 19:34

im excited for this... finally its not just laptop/vendor dependent. i wonder what the UI is like or if its mce dazamn... anyone have screens of this yet???

"Windows HotStart is a new feature in Windows Vista that enables you to click a button and immediately launch a program regardless of whether your mobile PC is on, asleep, in hibernation, or off. Within a few seconds of clicking a HotStart button, you can launch a media program such as Windows Media Player to play a CD or watch a DVD that you’ve recorded, or browse and play audio and video files from your hard disk. At any point, you can exit or pause the media program to return to your desktop without having to restart your mobile PC. Although HotStart is ideal for playing media that you’ve recorded or stored on your hard disk, you can also configure the button to start other programs, such as an email program or web browser. HotStart also works on desktop computers."

#17 NightmarE D on 23 May 2006 - 19:35

Keep getting the same errors. Tried the link given above and it's also going very slow.

(1 reply) #18 simon360 on 23 May 2006 - 19:36

You know it's overloaded when you can't even log in.

And I was getting excited, Office 2007 looks amazing!

EDIT: Almost got it, but it stopped on the download page. I think the passport servers crashed, but they're speedy now.

#18.1 NightmarE D on 23 May 2006 - 19:40

I've never seen it this overloaded before. Should have expected this with both Vista beta 2 and Office 2007 beta 2 both being released publically today .

(2 replies) #19 -Dave- on 23 May 2006 - 19:40

this kind of thing is what torrents were design to help with - spreading out the BW.
shame MS dont release an official torrent....

#19.1 markjensen on 23 May 2006 - 19:42

'twould be nice... :yes:

#19.2 ShadowPHP on 23 May 2006 - 19:57

Are we really that lucky?

(2 replies) #20 OhMuffin on 23 May 2006 - 19:40

18% for me... pretty slow tho.. 350kb/s avarage.

#20.1 simon360 on 23 May 2006 - 19:42

You call that slow? Try downloading an entire OS at 60 KB/s (not talking about Vista, just any OS. That's my regular speed).

#20.2 Berserk on 23 May 2006 - 20:18

TRY DOWNLOADING @ 16kb MAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

#21 Roofy on 23 May 2006 - 19:42

downloading at 756KB/s

#22 OhMuffin on 23 May 2006 - 19:44

Yup, I usualy get 700-800kb/s on MS servers... this is SLOW.

#23 Aq3e on 23 May 2006 - 19:45

Link works, and so does the signup link, after few refreshes it spits out your CD-Key and then u can download Smart Source (have to be an authorized email, which is odd because on the download site it doesnt tell you to ever enter an email addy)

Last edited by Aq3e on 23 May 2006 - 19:52

#24 Spaz on 23 May 2006 - 19:58

i'm getting 1.2MB/sec. I won't complain.

#25 simon360 on 23 May 2006 - 20:09

They just put this up (I got a page not found, next refresh, about 10 seconds ago):

Quote -

Due to high demand the site is temporarily unavailable. Please try it again later.

#26 Munki on 23 May 2006 - 20:10

Shw33t!

#27 pyehac on 23 May 2006 - 20:12

MS should use this lesson and get on the BT bandwagon, unless they want a total shutdown of traffic.

#28 Hello1024 on 23 May 2006 - 20:17

so you're saying some people can download the whole office suite in 6 mins??? - some of us can only download at 35kbytes/sec ! ! (4 hours to go...)

BTW, interesting how the download servers are coping fine - still responsive - it's just the signup asp.net servers that are struggling - does it point to the efficiency of asp.net as a whole?? (which in my opinion isn't good for even simple "hello World" asp.net programs which can't do more than about 500 requests per sec per server - let alone more complex sites)

(1 reply) #29 ernicoats on 23 May 2006 - 20:17

60% downloaded

#29.1 simon360 on 23 May 2006 - 20:22

Maybe I'll just hack your computer and download it from there. Faster than this right now, sadly enough.

#30 Berserk on 23 May 2006 - 20:22

i cant find the linky to vista, on connect or on that site...

#31 TruckWEB on 23 May 2006 - 20:22

Well, here I don't know what's happening but Videotron cable is painfully slow right now. Not only for MS but for everything else on the web. Just loading Neowin takes time.

I'm realy not happy, my download speed (before stoppîng it...) was at a record breaking speed of 4.5k/sec. When everything is right, I can download at 500-600k/sec.

(1 reply) #32 plastikaa on 23 May 2006 - 20:22

they should have sahred it using torrents ... haha

#32.1 Donovann on 23 May 2006 - 20:40

Funny I thought they were "seeding" it out. Guess not.

and yep, must be busy (getting '[HttpException (0x80004005): Server Too Busy]' message)

(3 replies) #33 Smigit on 23 May 2006 - 20:25

can office be installed alongside 2003 or does it even need to be. Is it rather stable?

Personal use here but I'd still like it to work.

#33.1 Jeremy1 on 23 May 2006 - 21:19

I noticed a few issues with using 2003 while 2007 is installed. But once you use 2007, I suspect you'll be fully ready to uninstall 2003. It's that good.

#33.2 PGHammer on 23 May 2006 - 23:30

2007 *replaces* previous versions of Office (Office 12 must be uninstalled beforehand, of course). However, I've been running the TR-1 refresh in XP as my primary productivity suite since it was released, and it's more stable than Office 2003.

#33.3 Jeremy1 on 24 May 2006 - 02:33

2007 did not replace 2003 on my system. 2003 remained after I installed 2007, I had to uninstall it myself.

#34 Jack31081 on 23 May 2006 - 20:26

how much HDD space will one need for a Beta 2 install?

#35 NinjaGinger on 23 May 2006 - 20:26

Installed, came down no problem so I must be lucky.

(1 reply) #36 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 20:28

Full Office 2007 Professional Plus installation takes about 1.6 Gigs according to its setup. It's less actually...

#36.1 Leo Natan on 23 May 2006 - 20:35

You have to remember that there are system files installed as well (in "System32" and "Common Files" directories). So it may be 1.6...

(3 replies) #37 Spaz on 23 May 2006 - 20:29

any other MSDN subscribers not able to get a key generated for Vista? I keep getting "Error while requesting Product Keys. Please try again later or contact customer support."

#37.1 riceboyler on 23 May 2006 - 20:44

Quote - Spaz said @ #37

any other MSDN subscribers not able to get a key generated for Vista? I keep getting "Error while requesting Product Keys. Please try again later or contact customer support."

+1

They probably realize that nobody could have downloaded it quickly enough to need a key by now...

#37.2 tgindrup on 23 May 2006 - 22:12

It gave me all of them -- except Ultimate (DRATS!!

, Home Basic, and Home Premium. You may try one of the other versions...

LOL I just realized that 'all of them' is only the Business class -- DOH

Last edited by tgindrup on 23 May 2006 - 22:40

#37.3 Spaz on 23 May 2006 - 23:08

blah. just checked again and it still won't give me a key. I've only tried ultimate though, didn't try any others.

(1 reply) #38 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 20:37

Hah i downloaded an hour or somewhat ago... 900Kbps :-)

#38.1 nauge on 23 May 2006 - 21:50

only took me 3 minutes... 1800 KB/s

(3 replies) #39 Divide Overflow on 23 May 2006 - 20:39

I am more interested in the public preview of Windows Vista than I am the preview of Office 2007. I think the "enthusiast" demand is much higher for Vista than Office. Yet, on the Vista website, Microsoft states the following:

Quote -

Windows Vista Beta 2 is now available for IT professionals and developers with MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. In the coming weeks, Microsoft will start the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP) for developers and IT professionals who are not members of the subscription services.

In the coming weeks?! What the hell for? Why the delay?

#39.1 denzilla on 23 May 2006 - 20:45

Yea, I just read that....DAMMIT!!!!

#39.2 M118LR on 23 May 2006 - 21:50

The TechNet Plus Vista Beta 2 DVD won't be shipped until the first of July. TechNet is not able to download Vista Beta 2 like MSDN can. TechNet Plus is DVD only.

#39.3 Divide Overflow on 24 May 2006 - 00:42

I do not subscribe to Technet or MSDN. I however do not see a reason for there to be a delay in starting up the CPP. There are already newer builds available. By the time I can get my hands on Beta 2 legitimately, I might as well go out and obtain a newer build.

#40 Aq3e on 23 May 2006 - 20:40

Error on installation, Can't find Proof.xml

(2 replies) #41 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 20:41

Alternate link, compatible with download managers and start/stop/resume

This is an official link to the Microsoft Sources, and nothing illegal. You still need a key, which you got if you subscribed.

http://download.esd.licensetech.com/Micros...S/OPPLUS-EN.EXE

#41.1 simon360 on 23 May 2006 - 21:50

Thanks, got it pretty quickly. I think MS needs to m,ake their webpage lighter, the download isn't a problem.

#41.2 weiran on 23 May 2006 - 22:34

The problem is Microsoft letting some outside company handle the downloads. Microsoft's servers may be fast, but the other company's isn't!

(1 reply) #42 bluewind_89 on 23 May 2006 - 20:42

Ok someone please help me. I clicked on the download link for Office 2007 Beta and signed up and everything. I got the email confirmation, clicked it, and got the server busy message. So I closed the window, after a while went back to hotmail and clicked on the download link; however, it said your email has already been verified. So what do I do?

#42.1 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 20:44

Wait for new mail... Or try going to https://onlinekey.ltg.info/shop/trialinfo.aspx

#43 Audhumla on 23 May 2006 - 20:46

The site is barely accessible at the moment

(3 replies) #44 rumc151 on 23 May 2006 - 20:50

Downloaded Office now at about 14M/s, only took about a minute

Installing now....

#44.1 jhatcher16 on 23 May 2006 - 20:53

Grrr...it's people like you that make it so difficult for others....

#44.2 xSuRgEx on 23 May 2006 - 20:56

wooooo well arnt you the lucky one with a fast connection, bet you didnt get to be an offical beta tester tho.

#44.3 jwjw1 on 23 May 2006 - 21:05

BS....another wannabe

#45 sevastopol on 23 May 2006 - 20:57

well got Offcie 2007 and me any my m8 agree on one thing - it is amazingly better over office 2003. Everyhting is kool, looks, features
The only thing i notice is lag with charts in word and occasional little buggies (even with my 1.5 gig ram AMD 3500, 7800gt)

(1 reply) #46 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 20:59

Well now even SmartSource isn't working anymore... Buy new extra servers microsoft!

#46.1 Aq3e on 23 May 2006 - 21:04

Yea, cant login to it now

#47 diablofan on 23 May 2006 - 21:08

Go to the Hotfix.net to get Office 2007 Beta 2 and Vista beta 2, offical

#48 Cayenne Turbo on 23 May 2006 - 21:08

downloaded from one of those links above at 784 K/s--used the key from the last beta...and it Works great. I added another 512mb of ram last night and office opens in about...half a second now.

#49 EduardValencia on 23 May 2006 - 21:09

no servers can handle this rip off!

(1 reply) #50 Cayenne Turbo on 23 May 2006 - 21:16

just got my BetaExperience invitation--links to same website...

#50.1 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 21:27

Got it too. Nothing new...

#51 Sp3ctranova on 23 May 2006 - 21:25

damn...y'all have fast connections...

Can't wait for it to go public. Or "seed" it's way out to the masses...

#52 Ambroos on 23 May 2006 - 21:29

Darn now even neowin servers are getting it hard... "Servers are taking a break, try again in a couple of minutes"

Seems like the BetaBoom has begun...

#53 Lexcyn on 23 May 2006 - 21:37

Man, 60k/s on Connect. So slooooow.

#54 *John* on 23 May 2006 - 21:37

Is smartsource broken for anyone else?

I managed to get Office 2007 Professional Plus Beta 2 but now I cant even log in

(1 reply)

Neowin.net

Windows Vista & Office 2007 Beta 2 Released

Share this Article

About the Author

Related news