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That's no way to speak to Microsoft! Think of the "joy of testing!

You're going to hate me. I'm downloading Windows Vista (Beta 2) direct from Microsoft.

The reason I know you'll hate me, is simple: I've been reading the angry messages from would-be triallists who have been trying to log onto Microsoft's servers, and finding that it's log-jam city.

It took me five goes to get logged on as an MSDN (developer network) subscriber; first time, I just got to a page full of Rude Words from frustrated developers, saying: "Where are the downloads?" - to paraphrase rather a lot. I've seldom seen a page on the Microsoft site with so much Anglo-Saxon in its etymology...

Most of the time, it became clear, Microsoft is dealing with the server logjam by simply replacing the hyperlink to the download page, with a hyperlink to the page that you just came from. You are trapped in a maze of twisty little passages... Sometimes, you're lucky, and you get to the download page, and it says: "Sorry, all our servers are busy; please try later."

Persist. Virtue will be recognised, and you'll get through. I can't tell you what magic I used to get through, eventually, but here's a hint: I kept losing the page, until I thought of logging right out of MSDN. Next login, I got through.

Well, it was either that, or the bat's entrails from the sacrifice. And all we have to do now, is work out whether Vista Beta really is that popular, or whether Microsoft is reducing bandwidth to make it look like it is...?

Tags: Vista, Microsoft