Official MSDN Subscriptions Blog

Some Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 Activation resources

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:31:00 GMT

We know that product activation can be a very complicated thing to figure out for developers, where environements are constantly torn down and rebuilt, and activations are not unlimited.

I was just alerted of a few more resources that you may find useful:

Product Activation in Development Environments for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Volume Activation: http://www.technet.com/volumeactivation

Converting KMS Clients to MAK - required since Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 install automatically as KMS clients. A MAK can be installed during or any time after operating system installation.

And as always, if you are wiping and rebuilding more often than 30 days, you may want to consider not activating at all since many products allow usage for 30 days prior to activating.

Wave 2 of Windows 7 Client and Windows Server 2008 R2 - NOW LIVE ON MSDN SUBSCRIBER DOWNLOADS!

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:01:00 GMT

Here you go!

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM - some follow up

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:59:00 GMT

We see that everyone seems to be getting their bits and keys ok for Windows 7. Demand has been phenomenal, and WWW traffic overall today very high, so speeds may be a bit slower than you are used to.

There have been several follow up questions I thought I would address:

Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM will be released in a few weeks (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Italian). At the same time, Windows 7 Client in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese will be releasing.

Academic Alliance Administrators that have a Subscriptions account also have access to the bits and keys today. I believe the files have to be picked up and moved over to other AA systems though separate from the MSDN Subscriptions site. I think it is safe to assume they are working on that now.

Product Keys

There were eight product keys made available today. Different Subscriptions programs and levels have access to different keys potentially.

Released today:

OEM key for Windows 7 Starter
Retail keys for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, Home Basic, and Home Premium
KMS and/or MAK keys for Windows 7 Enterprise. See Volume Activation Operations Guide

Hope that helps

Windows 7 RTM bit now live on Subscriber Downloads

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:53:00 GMT

Enjoy!

https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/securedownloads/default.aspx?pv=36:350

and alternate download location (through Akamai):

https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/securedownloads/bb608344.aspx

8PM Update

Early this evening, due to continued high demand for Windows 7 RTM bits, we made some changes to move traffic for the Enterprise and Ultimate bits over to Akamai. Some of you have noticed the Download links grayed out, but maybe did not notice the statement under the file name: "Please click Details for download information." In the file details are links to the Akamai downloads and a link to the Product Keys list page, to get the bits and keys.

Windows 7 RTM - coming soon

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:46:00 GMT

Reposting for higher visibility:

We have had almost 100 unposted comments asking what time we will post Windows 7 RTM. Rather than posting them all, I'll just say that we will make some announcements when it is made available for download. You can also monitor the Subscriptions RSS feed for notification when the bits are made available.

Thanks,

Mike

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 - some more details for Subscribers

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:22:00 GMT

Several of you have asked for some additional details on the launch, in terms of waves and languages. Here you go:

The initial launch wave is expected to be primarily English Client bits, but is expected to also have some language packs, WAIKs, SDKs, DDKs, etc.

The next wave is expected to follow a week or two later, and should include French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese Client bits as well as Server 2008 R2 English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese bits.

A third wave is expected to start several weeks later, with more languages. Languages will be added to the site as they are released to the team, so over time.

When will Subscribers get Windows 7 RTM? August 6th.

Mike Kinsman — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:54:00 GMT

I'm sure many people have seen this post, but for those who haven't, here is official word, straight from the Windows team:

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/21/when-will-you-get-windows-7-rtm.aspx

From the blog, MSDN and TechNet Subscribers will be able to download Windows 7 RTM on August 6th.

Please let us know if you have any questions leading up to availability on Subscriber Downloads, we'll do what we can to get them answered.

Thanks,
Mike

Windows 7 RTM Information - in case you did not see this

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:47:00 GMT

check out the Windows Team Blog post about Windows 7 RTM: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/13/update-on-windows-7-rtm.aspx

Subscribers will be among the early recipients.

Downloading and Installing VS 2010 Beta 1 Video

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:57:00 GMT

Episode 20: Downloading and Installing Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 is here! In this episode of 10-4, Brian Keller, Microsoft Technology Evangelist, will take you through downloading and installing Visual Studio 2010 Team Suite Beta 1 and Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 1. This time-compressed video will take you through all of the key things you need to know to get up and running quickly with beta 1.

Enjoy!

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 - AVAILABLE NOW on MSDN Subscriber Downloads

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:36:00 GMT

Experience the Visual Studio 2010 beta now

Read more about how to give us feedback at the Visual Studio 2010 Product Page.

It's Alive!

ChrisDeluca — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:03:00 GMT

We just published the RC bits for Windows 7! More details to follow...

2009/04/30 11:55pm PDT - Update: I had fully intended on updating this post with tons of info, but alas, it was not to be. We had a ton of volume - more downloads were served today than we served during the beta release (up about 145%). While it wasn't a perfect day, I am really thankful we were able to get the Windows 7 RC bits into the hands of our subscribers well ahead of the general release next week. I believe we are in very good shape for tomorrow - so here is to an uneventful Friday!

For those of you who only heard about Windows 7 today - you should check out Windows Server 2008 R2 RC. It is the server product you know and love with the ability turn on all of the really snazzy Windows 7 UI elements.

Windows 7 RC on track for release to Subscribers on April 30th

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:27:00 GMT

You may have seen on the Windows 7 Blog, but it is now confirmed that the Windows 7 RC is on track to be released to MSDN and TechNet Subscribers on April 30th, with broader public availability on May 5th.

You might also be interested in some of the linked details:

Changes since Beta and more changes since Beta

MSDN Subscriptions web site - February 2009 release

ChrisDeluca — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:48:00 GMT

Some of you may or may not have noticed our February release go out last week. The release itself is fairly substantial, but not in ways that you’ll immediately notice – so I’ll highlight some of the changes and issues we’ve seen since releasing these bits into production.

The new features include:

1. “Super-setting” of your benefits for download and product key claiming purposes. One of the complaints we regularly heard from our users with multiple subscriptions was the fact that to download a file, you first had to select the proper subscription that had permission to the file and then you could download it. With super-setting, if any of your subscriptions entitle you to a download or a product key, you’ll be able to get what you want, based on the aggregation of your subscriptions.

2. Added more information to our “manage” page. Things like the expiration date of your subscription, the level of your subscription, the current status of your subscription, etc.

3. A complete rewrite of our middle tier. The original code for our middle tier was written almost four years ago. Since that time, we’ve had incremental changes patched into the code to handle changes in our partner feeds, changes to the UI and fixes for various bugs. This rewrite has given us a better platform for future development.

Unfortunately, there have been some bugs that didn’t get caught before we released our code into production. The vast majority of them fall into two broad buckets:

1. Users with a mix of expired and active subscriptions are seeing some odd behavior in the various web pages.

2. Product key claims are not working correctly for users that either have a mix of expired and active subscriptions, or users that have a mix of subscriptions that contain an Academic Alliance subscription.

We believe that we have been able to identify the root cause for these issues and the fixes are currently in our test lab. At this time, we expect to release the fixes to production early next week (Wednesday the 18^th is our current target).

Please feel free to sign into the blog and contact me privately if you have any questions. After signing in, you can navigate here: http://blogs.msdn.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=134865 and you will see an “email” link.

Chris Deluca - Dev Lead, MSDN and TechNet Subscriptions

MSDN Subscribers: Windows 7 Beta Downloads, Keys, and Providing Feedback

SubscriptionsBlogger2 — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:13:00 GMT

Many of you have successfully found the Windows 7 Beta Downloads and Keys, but some have not. Also, many of you have asked how you can provide feedback on the Windows 7 Beta. Hopefully the information below will answer these questions if you still need help.

You must have an active MSDN Subscription to download the files or claim product keys from the MSDN Subscriptions Site, and you must be signed in with your Windows Live ID. Need to Buy or Renew a Subscription?

Product Downloads:

Windows 7 Beta files on MSDN (adjust the language filters for other languages - a few have been released)

Windows 7 Beta files on Akamai (Top Downloads list) on MSDN

Product Keys:

Adjacent to the Downloads at MSDN

On the Product Keys list pages at MSDN

The downloads can be used for 30 days prior to activation, in case you have encountered problems or delays in claiming your product keys. You have access to 10 product keys. If you need more than that, you will need to contact Support to have additional keys provisioned for you.

Providing Feedback on the Windows 7 Beta:

You have asked us how you can provide feedback on the Beta, since the built in “Provide Feedback” links are not going to locations available to you.

We have worked with the Product Group to get you access to the "Connect" site where you can provide feedback.

Go to the MSDN Subscriptions Home Page and sign in to Windows Live ID. Follow the instructions and links under the top Article headline "Give us feedback on the Windows 7 Beta". If you don't see that headline, you are not recognized as an MSDN Subscriber.

Windows 7 has been posted!

Mike Kinsman — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:59:00 GMT

Demand for Windows 7 Beta has been strong so far! If you have already downloaded the bits, we look forward to hearing what you think. If you haven't downloaded it yet, try it today!

If you did not get a product key when you first downloaded the bits, you can return to Subscriber Downloads and get one now. Hope you enjoy the beta!