Is downloading Windows 7 legal?


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AFAIK, MS has stopped handing out new keys as in no more registration for beta keys.

And also at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7...a-download.aspx

As for the legality of this, acquiring beta/release candidate code prior to some "official" release, I sure wish people would get off the "illegal" track as I don't know of any specific laws that are being broken. Until someone can - with absolute 100% confirmation - provide some specific legislation or law on the books anywhere that specifically states it's absolutely illegal to acquire said beta/release candidate code, then the term "illegal" shouldn't be tossed around as much as it is. It's a scare tactic more than anything else...

I seriously doubt anyone at Microsoft Legal would be willing to start legal proceedings against any given individual for acquiring or possessing such code. Now, when it goes gold/RTM and becomes a legit commercial product, that's where it would cross lines into legal ownership or potential software piracy.

But as for beta/release candidate code... it ain't happening.

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Please pass all the bugs we have posted here along to the team if the RC does not have feedback enabled.

I can't say for the rest of the world, but I am in love with Windows 7, THE ONLY OS.

It is (well, will be come May 5th) still not a finished version so you should have no problem giving feedback through the RC.

Windows 7 ftw :)

Anyways, back to the threads topic... I'm not a legal expert for Microsoft, but the safe assumption is that it is illegal to download unofficial builds. The issue with downloading unofficial builds that I would be more worried about however is that they can be hacked and you can put your computer at risk by downloading them. Here is a quote to sum this up- ?If there's a thing that we absolutely do not recommend to end users, it's that they should download interim builds of Windows 7 from torrent trackers,? revealed Tudor Galos, Windows Business Group Lead at Microsoft Romania, exclusively to Softpedia. ?Galos indicated that Microsoft?s official channels should be considered as the sole source of Windows 7 development milestones. ?Why? Because many leaked releases can be affected by hackers.? Source

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