The Presales of Windows 7 in Germany was for many people a bitter experience. The offer for 49,99 was sold out in five!!! minutes germany-wide. So, Microsoft, you cannot win new friends. At minimum you should make an better offer for your testers to buy the OS, for that they have worked.

bridgebuilder - Mega bummer! Five minutes is pretty impressive - you'd think people were buying tickets to a Michael Jackson concert or something. It sounds like:A.) Windows 7 is very, very popular in Germany (and France & the UK as well. I hear they were sold out fairly quickly as well.) and B.) Microsoft underestimated said popularity and didn't allocate enough copies. Given how quickly it sold out, and there still seems to be plenty of demand, hopefully, they'll box up a few more copies...