Windows Vista Beta 2, Office 2007 Beta 2, and a Whole Lot More!

As of today (to coincide with WinHEC), the all-you-can-eat buffet of bits is open for business. Make sure you grab an extra large plate, because you're definitely going to need it. Don't forget to leave room for dessert!

• Windows Vista Beta 2, Windows SDK Beta 2, WinFX Beta 2 Runtime Components, and "Orcas" WinFX Development Tools - Whew! Instead of repeating all of the details in my post, check out the link for helpful information about what to download and why. For Windows Vista Beta 2, note that you currently have to have a MSDN Subscription or be a member of the Windows Vista Beta Experience.
• 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta 2 - This is a completely public release, so anyone can download it. I've been running beta 2 (or at least close to it) for a couple weeks now. So far, I really like it. I do run into an occasional bug, but nothing that's prevented me from doing my work. The Office Ribbon takes a little adjusting to, but once you free your mind from the menu structure we've all memorized, it becomes quite convenient. Watch this short presentation about the new user interface to quickly come up-to-speed.
• Expression Interactive Designer May 2006 CTP - Formerly known as "Sparkle," this beta 2 compatible release makes it easier to build WPF applications.
• Expression Graphic Designer May 2006 CTP - The XAML Export feature now supports a live preview that is compatible beta 2. Awesome.
• Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 - I haven't used this one, so I don't have anything insightful to say...yet. :-)

As always, these are beta products, so you should not run them on production systems.

One last thing...now that IIS7 is available, you should check out the IIS site.