Microsoft released the beta version of its Windows 7 operating system but only made it available on its TechNet site for professionals and has not yet released it to the general public. Demand has been so great that the TechNet servers are overwhelmed and users are getting page errors and pages that refuse to load. Microsoft has said it will limit the number of activation keys to 2.5 million. Although Microsoft had said it would also post the download on its Windows site for the general public, it had not been as of 12:30 PM EST today. Even prior to the when the beta was posted on the TechNet site, users eager to download the beta were swarming the servers in search of the beta.
Update: According to a post on the Windows 7 blog, Microsoft is delaying the public release of the Windows 7 beta due to overwhelming demand they've already seen on its TechNet site. According to the blog post "Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta." There's been no word on when the beta will be released to the public.