Forget beta and RC builds of Windows Vista. And certainly forget about the pirated copies of Vista. Because the real thing from Microsoft is available for download today. Microsoft was very hush-hush about this. The Redmond Company only posted a message on the MSDN website revealing the official date for the Vista availability. The Redmond Company did state in a past press release that it will deliver both Windows Vista and Office 2007 to MSDN Premium subscribers.

"Windows Vista and Office 2007: Availability on MSDN Subscriber Downloads. Office 2007 is now available from MSDN Subscriber Downloads. Windows Vista is expected to be available on Friday November 17, 2006 PST," reads the message published by Microsoft.

So there you go. If you are the proud possessor of a MSDN Premium subscription, you will able to download Windows Vista directly from Microsoft starting today, Friday 17, 2007. The Office 2007 System has been available for downloading from MSDN since November 12.

Here is the hash for the Vista version on MSDN: en_windows_vista_x86_dvd_X12-34293.iso = b71e04564ca22e4d9928e59298eff87cf62b382b. The pirated copies of Windows Vista have a different one: LRMCFRE_EN_DVD.iso (BillGates) = b82590481755ba3420e7314bf82b8916a90963b5 so it's safe to conclude that the variant from MSDN is different from the leaked one.

With a single download, MSDN Premium subscribers will get Windows Vista Business, Vista Business N, Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Basic N, Vista Home Premium, Vista Starter and Windows Vista Ultimate.

Depending on the product key that is used upon installation, only one of the editions mentioned above will be installed. In this manner, upgrading your Windows Vista operating system is as simple as acquiring a new product key. Microsoft is delivering, as yet, product keys only for Windows Vista Business, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate.