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Free Windows Vista & Office 2007 for US Customers

Tom Warren   on 29 November 2006 - 23:40 · 129 comments & 63118 views

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Despite recent reports that Microsoft's latest offering is a fake scam site we have received confirmation from the giant software company that US members are able to get a copy of Vista and Office 2007 free.

Microsoft spokesperson Nick White said "this is a program run out of our DPE org (Developer & Partner Evangelism from within our US subsidiary). I wanted to let you all know that this site and its offer are indeed legitimate."

In order to get the free copies you must register for the webcasts and participate in them.

View: Microsoft - Powertogether

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(1 reply) #1 RomeoPlayer69 on 29 Nov 2006 - 23:45
Pssh that's Webcasts NOT webcam.

-Romeo
#1.1 Tom W on 29 Nov 2006 - 23:53
lmao my bad. I was just ordering a new webcam ta
(2 replies) #2 atsaunier on 29 Nov 2006 - 23:51
When i called microsoft the person i talked to told me this site was not legit that it was a scam site.. so who do we belive?
#2.1 Tom W on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:03
It's legit.
#2.2 lothodon on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:03
Quote - atsaunier said @ #2
When i called microsoft the person i talked to told me this site was not legit that it was a scam site.. so who do we belive?


perhaps that person had no idea of this particular promotion. ms is huge, the chances of every employee knowing about everything the company does is simply impossible.
(1 reply) #3 Adamb10 on 29 Nov 2006 - 23:53
The site looks real.
#3.1 bush on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:03
not to me. it's similar to microsoft's vista site but not exact. well.. neowin says it's for real.. so be it.
(4 replies) #4 Code.Red on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:06
Windows Vista Business? Hmm.. don't know if I really want it..
#4.1 Snakehn on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:10
It's Freaking FREE Dude!
#4.2 DJ_Myth on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:18
So just upgrade to ultimate after you get a copy
#4.3 Code.Red on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:45
Ooh, upgrading slipped my mind! I can probably withstand 3 webcasts.
#4.4 dodgetigger on 30 Nov 2006 - 11:02
Quote - Code.Red said @ #4.3
Ooh, upgrading slipped my mind! I can probably withstand 3 webcasts.

Hell, i would like to see one of these web casts even though I am in Europe and I can't even get the free Vista, but I am not even allowed to view the webcast...
#5 UnaBonger on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:12
Safe to assume the site is getting hammered? I cant connect...
#6 Mike Frett on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:13
I haven't been able to get in for 2 days. Might as well give up.
#7 Lasker on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:17
This is going to be the christmas for my father in law , I already own a legal copy of Ultimate
#8 jafoman on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:19
It took me 4 hours last night of constantly submitting my registration info and having to go back and resubmit... Probably a dozen times I submitted and it took me back to STEP 1... But it finally did work. You need to be EXTREMELY patient.
#9 Davo on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:19
But why?
(1 reply) #10 Stephen2417 on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:28
From what I read this isn't really free. They still charge you the tax for it or something... Refer to the digg comments.
#10.1 OAKside on 30 Nov 2006 - 10:20
Oh, no - TAX! Sounds like you hear what you want, merely spewed rumors.
That way you don't cry when you have to go (over)spend on Vista retail.
The only thing relating to tax is the W-9 you must fill out to get BOTH gifts.

Truth is the site is verified legit through multiple sources and MS itself.
What more can you want? But way before the verification the site was
decimated and the supply of gifts certainly ran out. Who knows how many
they had to give and they don't have any reason to reveal that, not while
still generating tons of traffic for whatever reason they wanted it to begin with.

As usual, once a great deal even begins to spread around the net kiss it goodbye.
The risk-takers and early birds got in, and I'd bet not too many more.
And congrats to MS for participating in some great upgrades and deals this release.
(8 replies) #11 richardsim7 on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:32
Americans only?! Well that sucks

-Rich-
#11.1 Yagi on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:55
Well maybe if the EU would back off it would have been open to other countries too lol! I'm sort of joking there.
#11.2 theyarecomingforyou on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:22
@Yagi - That's not called joking... it's called trolling.

NEway, it makes no difference - Microsoft does lots of these "US-only" promotions and almost never include other countries or offer anything comparable. It's pretty pathetic but we don't have much choice in the matter.
#11.3 Z3r0 on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:43
I think this offer is unfair once again too.
#11.4 QuarterSwede on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:06
Quote - Z3r0 said @ #11.3
I think this offer is unfair once again too.

Since when has life been fair?
#11.5 michelonia on 30 Nov 2006 - 09:52
I get so tired of being punished because I am an American citizen that has chosen to reside abroad. Is there not something in the Constitution or some laws that says that I cannot be discriminated against due to the location of my home. If there is not, then there should be. After all it is called the World Wide Web not the United States Web
#11.6 Yagi on 30 Nov 2006 - 14:18
@theyarecomingforyou - It's not trolling if it's true. With all the legal issues with the EU over being a monopoly, you really think they'll make offers like this there when there is a huge potential for one company saying this is "anti-competitive"? No, it's smart for Microsoft not to offer this anywhere else, it saves themselves legal costs and potential rediculous fines.
#11.7 theyarecomingforyou on 30 Nov 2006 - 22:31
Quote - Yagi said @ #11.6
@theyarecomingforyou - It's not trolling if it's true.

That's exactly my point, though... it's not true. These offers have been done for countless years, long before the EU took so much interest in Microsoft. They're not offering it to Canadians, Africans or any other nation so it is quite pathetic that you should use it as an excuse to bash the EU. Grow up.
#11.8 Yagi on 01 Dec 2006 - 20:58
The fact that they are giving away a product that took 5 years to develop and costs a few hundred dollars away to alot of people is great, plain and simple. So it's not offered to other countries, oh well, get over it.
(1 reply) #12 excalpius on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:39
hmm, I got excited and then I thought to myself...even for free I'm still not excited about Vista. Man, that's sad.
#12.1 phantasmorph on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:29
I feel the same way. I've registered, just because it's there, and free is free, but I could really care less.
#13 Yagi on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:45
Alright, I just did it and it appears to be really legit. The only thing is, DON'T RECIEVE BOTH PRODUCTS, CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER. Once you register and click Help you will read that at the end they will ask you for your ssn and have you fill out tax form because the "prize" value of both is over $600 and you will have to pay prize tax. SO in that case, it's not free. But if you only do one or the other, you will be fine.

I did the webcasts for Office 2007, I already have a copy of Vista, and have already recieved an email saying that I will recieve Office 2007 in 6-8 weeks and was never asked for my ssn or anything about tax information.
(1 reply) #14 oqwarrior on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:50
Thanks for posting this on the front page! This should help to crash the servers even faster! w00t!!!! <_<
#14.1 +Yuxi Jr on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:40
Yea it's taking 3+ minutes to load a page... :/
(1 reply) #15 ambiance on 30 Nov 2006 - 00:59
When will Canadians get the same awesome offers like the US receives? I'm applying for a green card.

#15.1 DJ_Myth on 30 Nov 2006 - 08:13
When Canada becomes part of the states < / sarcasium>
#16 agent_9000 on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:13
ger... why canada be included?
#17 Nose Nuggets on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:15
i FINALLY got it. i saw this posted on the forums yesterday. i tried all day yesterday, and all day today, and i finally got in.
(1 reply) #18 eilegz on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:21
too bad not available for latin america
#18.1 Magallanes on 30 Nov 2006 - 15:17
As always, latin america can have any products for free
#19 altermind on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:29
when I tried to use it... my antiviris... (kapersky) said it contained a trojen.... explain that...
(2 replies) #20 Express on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:31
I signed up for every class but refused the free gift.
I already have Vista Ultimate (got it from connect for submitting bugs! ) and Office 2007 I only need it at my workplace.
#20.1 JustinT9669 on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:49
....so do you want a cookie for all your hard work?
#20.2 Express on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:01
Why, Thank you!
Very kind of you.
#21 denzilla on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:38
So do you just watch the classes or are you prompted to interact? Can a normal joe do this stuff or just for devs only?
(4 replies) #22 AutonomousMachete on 30 Nov 2006 - 01:46
How does it know if you've watched a webcast? I keep trying to watch the streaming ones and it won't connect. I've downloaded the same one to my desktop and I'm watching it, and the progress says "In Progress." When does it count when I've listened to the whole thing?
#22.1 akuma-x on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:13
Quote - AutonomousMachete said @ #22
How does it know if you've watched a webcast? I keep trying to watch the streaming ones and it won't connect. I've downloaded the same one to my desktop and I'm watching it, and the progress says "In Progress." When does it count when I've listened to the whole thing?


Yeah this is the problem I'm having too.
#22.2 beardly on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:16
Same here, hopefully credit will applied. I just wish the site would load a lot quicker.
#22.3 Yagi on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:22
It takes 24 hours for it to apply. I emailed support and this was the email I got back.

"Greetings,

After you complete a webcast, it takes 24 hours for your completion of the offering to be validated in the system. If you completed the webcast, you will receive credit after it has been validated. However, the website will say pending until then. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Brian J. Bean
Technical Support"
#22.4 Express on 30 Nov 2006 - 06:02
Didn't know Bean was a real lastname.
Thought it was fictional.
#23 xxdesmus on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:17
For the 10th time, It's legit.

By all means, don't take part in this though...you'll sure show them...
#24 denzilla on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:21
Trying to get somewhere, but it keeps saying "a system error has occurred" during the reg process.
#25 metalguy90 on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:27
seems like a lot of work for it not to be.
#26 dl0711 on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:48
Damn you Microsoft... why cant this offer be for Canada aswell???...
#27 nogoon on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:48
working on my illegit copy of windows xp, not on my laptop which i bought recently. hmm.
#28 denzilla on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:53
This is a waste of time till the servers free up.
(3 replies) #29 fishmasterou812 on 30 Nov 2006 - 02:58
well I visited the site & started the process until I got an alarm on me Firewall...7:46:19 PM Port scan 66.150.160.26 TCP (1252, 1253, 1246, 1247, 1244, 1245). So I did a lil investigation on who has the Domain name

WHOIS results for powertogether.com
Generated by www.DNSstuff.com
[Caching always on for search engines and InfoPath]
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Status: ok
Dates: Created 02-oct-2006 Updated 23-oct-2006 Expires 02-oct-2007
DNS Servers: NS3.MSFT.NET NS1.MSFT.NET NS5.MSFT.NET NS2.MSFT.NET NS4.MSFT.NET

... I won't post the rest but the dude lives supposedly in London. Seems a lil fishy to me. That Ms would use this particular site for this.. Needless to say I changed me Windows Live Password asap just to play it safe.

#29.1 StarSabers on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:38
If you don't know how to use DNS lookups for useful information, don't use it.

The DNS servers for Microsoft.com and this site both point to MSFT.NET. Why is this important? Because those servers will only give you IP addresses for the domains in it's DNS database (again check Microsoft.com, it has the same DNS server as this site). In other words, if you just point a random domain to MSFT.NET name servers, it won't work (especially not work giving you an actual domain you were wishing it would). DNS servers change domain names to IP addresses pretty much, and if the domain isn't in it's database, it's not going to give you the right IP address for the website.

The site's legit. Put it to rest.

Last edited by StarSabers on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:49
#29.2 Nas on 30 Nov 2006 - 04:45
Melbourne IT is actually the company Microsoft uses for domain registrations (so their domain registrar) for a long time now. But as Microsoft has recently been properly accredited by the ICANN to be a full registrar, this practice may cease to occur in the coming years (when their agreement with Melbourne IT ceases to operate).
#29.3 xxdesmus on 30 Nov 2006 - 13:27
Well then you should definitely not do this then huh?

It's legit, several credible people have already long since confirmed it...move along and give your conspiracy theories a rest.
#30 Kasandoro on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:38
the webcasts are legit...I've watched two so far. They show as "pending" now in my profile, and the third still shows as "view now"...
(1 reply) #31 zerolimit on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:46
I got all 3 done already got confirmation for 6-8 weeks will have vista woot woot!
#31.1 Alpine` on 30 Nov 2006 - 19:39
Quote - zerolimit said @ #31
I got all 3 done already got confirmation for 6-8 weeks will have vista woot woot!


Mine are all on "pending". Did you get an email or what? How long did it take after you completed all 3?
#32 Yagi on 30 Nov 2006 - 03:56
(1 reply) #33 djesteban on 30 Nov 2006 - 04:18
lol
ok so free Vista for the rich americans?!?! Why didn't they give this offer to China or India? It makes no sense....
sucks that Canada is not included... but Canada sucks also... so it's kind of an even situation
#33.1 billyea on 30 Nov 2006 - 05:37
lame joke about canada ftl
(9 replies) #34 +Digix on 30 Nov 2006 - 04:26
outside the US and getting myne
#34.1 djesteban on 30 Nov 2006 - 04:35
how? please?!
#34.2 :: Lyon :: on 30 Nov 2006 - 05:14
I want to know too
#34.3 Cleiton on 30 Nov 2006 - 05:46
I want to know too .. HOW??????? pleaseeeee!!!!
#34.4 agent_9000 on 30 Nov 2006 - 05:57
HOOOOOOWWWWW?? for canada?
#34.5 dorimcheon on 30 Nov 2006 - 06:09
1) beta tester getting it free
2) pirating it
3) US contact delivering overseas
#34.6 Cleiton on 30 Nov 2006 - 06:18
Quote - dorimcheon said @ #34.5
1) beta tester getting it free
2) pirating it
3) US contact delivering overseas


or

4) LIE

lol
#34.7 rIaHc3 on 30 Nov 2006 - 16:03
5) His passport is set to USA like mine but he lives overseas and will recieve his key.
#34.8 GeeZuZz on 30 Nov 2006 - 18:04
Quote - djesteban said @ #1.1
how? please?!

Maybe like i do: I have a USA post address, that forwards all mail to my real non-us address. Not sure it will work though, but worth a try. I'm watching these webcasts out of interest anyway.
#34.9 jwjw1 on 30 Nov 2006 - 20:52
anything is possible...after they 'verify' Company and Shipping Address
#35 CaKeY on 30 Nov 2006 - 06:17
I cant wait to get my copy! So I can poop on it.
#36 jwjw1 on 30 Nov 2006 - 06:25
Windows Vista shipments estimated at 90 million for first year

IDC today released first projections of Windows Vista's likely impact on the existing Windows market. The market research firm believes that 90 million units will be installed next year. But only the consumer market is expected to adopt Vista almost instantly, while businesses will wait at least until 2008 for a broad deployment.
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/29/vista_shipment_estimate/

Yes..they should be able to afford to give away a 'few' copies....lol
(3 replies) #37 xSuRgEx on 30 Nov 2006 - 07:23
again the EU lose out on the US only stuff. when are we going to get the chance to have offers like this?
#37.1 ana04 on 30 Nov 2006 - 07:35
Quote - xSuRgEx said @ #37
again the EU lose out on the US only stuff. when are we going to get the chance to have offers like this?


Because they would propably get sued for it.. Not fair for the competition or something.. =)
#37.2 MrCobra on 30 Nov 2006 - 10:11
Quote - ana04 said @ #37.1

Because they would propably get sued for it.. Not fair for the competition or something.. =)

It would probably happen like that too.
#37.3 Aero Ultimate on 30 Nov 2006 - 19:15
Quote - xSuRgEx said @ #37
again the EU lose out on the US only stuff. when are we going to get the chance to have offers like this?

Yes, EU gets shafted as usual Can't you fake an US address and still get the stuff?
#38 thenut on 30 Nov 2006 - 07:34
office signup page is working but the vista signup page seems to be down
#39 DClark on 30 Nov 2006 - 07:53
Canada needs to join the US fast. This is pi$$ing me off that everything is "US exclusive", like Video Marketplace and a half-decent democracy where people debate real issues such as war, not retarded Quebec nationalism.
#40 PnP on 30 Nov 2006 - 07:56
Is it possible for me that I am italian? thanks for the info
#41 +AkSomeguy on 30 Nov 2006 - 07:58
this is for real not a fake
#42 jafoman on 30 Nov 2006 - 08:42
Umm... I can't get back to the website now... I registered and did watch a video... How do I login again???
#43 Ferret on 30 Nov 2006 - 09:17
Just for people in the US ? We'll see about that !

Nah, just tried it, and it won't let me - Never mind !