14 DAY TRIAL // Just as it was the case with Windows Vista, Windows 7 will come in a variety of flavors, with Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate already officially confirmed. In this context, in addition to the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 available as a public download since January 10, 2009, Microsoft is now also serving the bits for another SKU, namely Home Premium.
However, just as it happened with the Ultimate edition of Win 7, Home Premium is also packaged as an ISO image, requiring users to either burn the operating system on a DVD in order to install the bits, or to capture the file via Virtual PC 2007 and deploy the platform in a virtualized environment. Windows 7 Beta Home Premium is not exactly a public download, unlike Win 7 Beta Ultimate, but accessible nonetheless.
Still, users that will wish to test drive Windows 7 Home Premium Beta will have to grab the bits via Microsoft Connect, and not the public website that is serving the Ultimate edition. Simply visit the Microsoft Connect homepage and enter the following invitation ID Win7-3HQW-RF74 (via Neowin).
Windows 7 Home Premium Beta can be accessed through the Downloads link on the left hand side pane, which opens a page with all the Windows 7 Beta-related offerings. Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Bit (X86) and 64 Bit (X64) are at the bottom of the page, so simply scroll down. Microsoft is limiting access to Windows 7 Beta Home Premium for 1000 testers who are supposed to try out Windows Any Time Upgrade.
On January 10, 2009, the Redmond giant started serving the Beta bits for Windows 7, offering unlimited downloads to the Ultimate edition of the operating system. “We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided [to] 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,” a Microsoft spokesperson revealed.
Windows 7 Beta is available for download here.
Windows 7 Home Premium Beta CRC Values:
X86
client_en-us_HomePremium-GB1CHPFRE_EN_DVD.iso (0x3E527413); client_ja-jp_HomePremium-GB1CHPFRE_JA_DVD.iso (0x0C2A1364); client_de-de_HomePremium-GB1CHPFRE_DE_DVD.iso (0x9F90470D); client_ar-sa_HomePremium-GB1CHPFRE_AR_DVD.iso (0x35AB6C60).
X64
client_en-us_HomePremium-GB1CHPXFRE_EN_DVD.iso (0x2D8C26FD); client_ja-jp_HomePremium-GB1CHPXFRE_JA_DVD.iso (0x010E2309); client_de-de_HomePremium-GB1CHPXFRE_DE_DVD.iso (0x04C19D19); client_ar-sa_HomePremium-GB1CHPXFRE_AR_DVD.iso (0x5292B1E5).