So Microsoft started this “Power Together” site and is offering free versions of Windows Vista Business and Microsoft Office Professional 2007. For the last day I have seen stuff all over the Internet regarding this and people are getting really excited. To get the free versions of each you just have to complete three Webcasts and answer a few questions…which sounds pretty good, right?
As soon as I heard about it yesterday morning I have been trying to get beyond the homepage but I have been unsuccessful. It doesn’t matter which browser I am using it will return a “could not connect” error every time. I’m not sure if this is because their servers are so overloaded that they can’t handle any more connections or what. I would have written about this yesterday except I really wanted to get in and see what the Webcasts were like first. Now I am just curious whether anyone has gotten in or if this is just a problem that I am having?
It is probably important to note that the version of Vista that you’ll receive is the Business edition. I have seen many sites incorrectly reporting that it is Vista Ultimate which is obviously not true.
Man this has phishing written allllll over it. the “sign in” button on the left is a whole graphic, rather than just the normal button that is clickable as on other websites. At the bottom of the website it says “This site hosted for Microsoft by Ascentium.” why the bloody hell would MICROSOFT need anyone to host thier websites for them?
Well maybe im bitter cos im in the UK and therefore not elligable for this offer. =)
But it uses Live.com to log in…
I got through, but as usual… it’s for Americans only.
I just did a WHOIS lookup and this is a little weird:
Organisation Name…. Philip Colebrook
Organisation Address. Flat 13, Inner City House
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. London
Organisation Address. SE14 6QP
Organisation Address. -
Organisation Address. GREAT BRITAIN (UK)
But then the nameservers go through Microsoft:
Name Server………. ns1.msft.net
Name Server………. ns5.msft.net
Name Server………. ns2.msft.net
Name Server………. ns3.msft.net
Name Server………. ns4.msft.net
I have also done this stuff for Microsoft (and other companies) before so it isn’t a new concept that they are giving away software for watching Webcasts. So I don’t think it is a phishing site.
Too bad it’s always united states only, that sucks. (Well it maybe also tax thing but it should be possible for microsoft to give them almost anywhere in world via local branches.)
I got past the home page but not much else.
If it is legit, how the hell does it work? I expect they are single-user licenses, but still. There must be a catch somewhere.
[arstechnica.com]
They are looking to get some free feedback so I don’t think that there would be a catch.
Nice find…but I still can’t get past the homepage
Accidentally I was one among the few bloggers who wrongly published it as Vista Ultimate. Oooo… I’m so embarrassed
I’m still waiting for my Vista Beta 2 that I got when M$ had test about it on their site.
I got through, but, as CoryC said, there’s not much there. They ask you to look at the webcasts, but then they say that they need to ask you some questions, which makes it sound like there is some sort of survey or test you have to complete. I think the idea is to give developers and tech gurus more information about Vista’s internals, so that they might be compelled to write applications that use Vista-specific features or so they might tell other people to buy Vista.
There is also something that says you will receive a copy “if you’re eligible”. This makes me suspect that there might be some secret requirements needed, or maybe a lottery…
Maybe I’m being paranoid, but free copies of $300 apps to anyone who watches three videos? That’s $100 a video!
Look at it from Microsoft’s view. I am sure there are a lot of people who are going to do this that typically pirate both Office and Vista so they will reduce the amount of piracy by giving away these free copies. Then in a few months after Vista is released to consumers Microsoft will make some claim that it is the least pirated version of Windows ever but they will fail to mention that they gave away thousands and thousands of free copies.
So what does this cost Microsoft in the end? At retail price you’re receiving $100 per video but at their bandwidth cost it will only cost them probably $2 but they then get your feedback on something they are trying to make better and many of the people doing the service would have just gotten the products illegally anyways.
I’m sure that isn’t the case in a lot of the situations but it probably isn’t hurting Microsoft as much as you think.
I see your point. Companies pay a lot of money for this type of market research, and MS isn’t really paying anyone. As a bonus, they will be getting something they can advertise about. Forget saying that it is the least pirated version of Windows. I don’t know many people who would care about that. But imagine them saying on a commercial that thousands and thousands of people reserved copies of Vista weeks before it came out!
Also, think about how much money a Super Bowl ad costs.
Vista during the Superbowl…is that the right time to show off an operating system? I think the last thing people watching football would want to think about is a computer which is commonly associated to work.
Does someone who still plans to buy Vista/is just going to crack their RC2 key want to get one of these for me – technically all I need for it to be legal is the licence key which could be emailed, even if I can’t get the product because I live in the UK?
It’s immaterial who’s hosting the service. What bugs the hell out of me is that the offer is “is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia) 18 years of age or older.”
Why can’t Microsoft offer these services for other countries too. Sorry, I forgot it does: witness the Windows XP Starter Edition (limited to 1024×768, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HDD, modem only setups)!
so become an american or go back to where you came from. what did you want it to say, “for illigals too??? PLEASE!!!!