all, as I checked my mail yesterday morning, I was aroused since there was a real stunning offer for all of the beta users of MS Windows 7 to get a presales special offer for 49.99. For myself I thought that this is the first time that MS shows some apprecation to all of their beta users. But some minutes later I fell in deep agony, every online store sold out, MS store not even reachable. No reliable information all around. I do not know how many licences were planned for Germany? But apparently it was only a marketing teaser to generate public attention and press coverage. a frustrated beta user

Hey folks, I have to agree with my precedessor. According to media reports, Microsoft provided only 2000 (!) copies for the German Amazon, which isn't just the portal for Germany, but for Austria and Switzerland as well. I experienced it myself - at 9:05 am ("around 9:00 am" the pre-sale was supposed to be started) there were only http-server errors and about every online-shop, that sold Windows 7 was either offline or had the product sold out by around 9:15 am. I was lucky to still get a copy around 1:30 pm in a local (and not too famous) computer store. But let me put it this way: Anyone, who had to go to work on that day and who didn't have a computer with internet standing there, had almost no chance at all for getting the pre-sale offer. Which is, why many people in Germany are rather angry. I think that's very understandable. I really don't understand, why Microsoft limited the number of copies in Germany so much, but I seriously ask myself, if this is beneficial to the company. There's already many germans saying: "Ah well - then people will start again using illegal versions. 50x 50 EUR is more than 10 x 120 EUR - Microsoft should know that." I tend to agree. Best regards Jens