Microsoft removes Windows 7 beta download limit

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Microsoft was forced to temporarily suspend downloads of the beta of its Windows 7 operating system late Friday after its website collapsed under the strain of what it called, 'high demand'.

It then remedied the situation by adding more servers. "We are adding servers as fast as we can add them," a Microsoft spokesman said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

By Saturday downloads had resumed and Microsoft said here that it would remove the 2.5 million download limit that it had originally placed on the Windows 7 beta and instead make the download available for two weeks up to 24 January.

"We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit," wrote Brandon le Blanc, a Windows Communications Manager for Microsoft.

Microsoft, the world's biggest maker of software, has said Windows 7 will incorporate touch screen technology and enable users to more easily personalise the system. It promised more user-friendly features, such as a new taskbar that previews all open windows from a single application by hovering over the program's icon.

To read IT PRO's take on the Windows 7 beta, click here.

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