US: Windows 7 beta available worldwide on Friday
08 Jan 2009 4:11 PM
LAS VEGAS, Jan 7 AFP - Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has announced that a test version of the US software titan's Windows 7 operating system will be available worldwide on Friday.
"We are on track to deliver the best version of Windows ever," Ballmer said on Wednesday while making an opening keynote speech at a premier Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"We are putting in all the right ingredients: simplicity, reliability and speed."
Developers and Microsoft partner companies can begin testing Windows 7 immediately, Ballmer said.
"On Friday we will make the beta available worldwide so users can come online and try Windows 7 at home. I encourage you all to go out and download it."
The eagerly-anticipated successor to Microsoft's Vista operating system will streamline everyday tasks, cut boot-up times, extend battery life and make it simple to weave "smart" devices into home networks, Microsoft said.
