You're too late! As reported a couple weeks back, the general availability of the beta test version of Microsoft Windows 7 ended last night at 12:00 AM pacific time. Regular, non-developer-type folks hoping to get a glimpse at the new operating system before its release this summer are out of time. That said; if you already started the download then you still have until Thursday the 12th to complete it, and if you've finished that download you can still register for an activation key until further notice.

Traditional wisdom is that it's unwise to use a beta test version of an operating system, anyway. The OS is responsible for everything that happens on you computer, and if it has bugs, you could experience extreme frustration. However, some geeks out there who've tried Windows 7's beta test are claiming that it's at least as stable as Windows Vista within certain perameters, and of course it offers up a new interface and uses less memory than its predecessor, leaving more system resources for the programs you want to run.

The more stable release version is still slated to hit shelves after a few months.

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