Watch 3 videos, get DX10 and Vista for free
by Justin Murray 
{ Nov 29th 2006 at 11:00PM }
Forget the PS3 and Xbox 360, the next great thing in gaming graphics is called DirectX 10. The only catch is you'll need a fairly beefy PC and a copy of Windows Vista. However, the Vista half of the equation could come cheaper than expected.
Microsoft, through a website called Power Together, is offering up a free copy of Vista Business edition just for watching three videos. The videos are geared toward system admins or even internal auditors, but we could all sit through it just to get a $300 operating system for free (legitimately we might add). The only catch is you have to use IE6 or better and install the Live Meeting Replay Wrapper.
The site is currently moving at a snail's pace right now and the videos themselves are an hour long, so it could take a bit of work to get your free copy of Vista. The downside is Vista Business Edition doesn't come with the Media Center feature (like any of us care); however, Vista Business will be just fine for any of us who want to enjoy some sweet DirectX 10 gaming.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
delldude420 @ Nov 29th 2006 11:04PM
but would my nvida 7800 support dx10?
Jordan @ Nov 29th 2006 11:05PM
please, stop posting this. it's already on engadget, the site doesn't need any more bandwidth problems, and there are only a limited number of copies. take it off.
thegrey @ Nov 29th 2006 11:05PM
saw this on digg yesterday. i did not like the whois info...
Domain Name.......... powertogether.com
Creation Date........ 2006-10-03
Registration Date.... 2006-10-03
Expiry Date.......... 2007-10-03
Organisation Name.... Philip Colebrook
Organisation Address. Flat 13, Inner City House
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. London
Organisation Address. SE14 6QP
Organisation Address. -
Organisation Address. GREAT BRITAIN (UK)
Admin Name........... Philip Colebrook
Admin Address........ Flat 13, Inner City House
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ London
Admin Address........ SE14 6QP
Admin Address........ -
Admin Address........ GREAT BRITAIN (UK)
Admin Email.......... pcolebrook@gmail.com
Admin Phone.......... 44.2086915308
Admin Fax............
Tech Name............ CBS Registry
Tech Address......... Box 3396
Tech Address.........
Tech Address......... Stockholm
Tech Address......... SE 103 68
Tech Address......... -
Tech Address......... SWEDEN
Tech Email........... registry@melbourneitcbs.com
Tech Phone........... 46.855340200
Tech Fax............. 46.855340201
Name Server.......... ns1.msft.net
Name Server.......... ns5.msft.net
Name Server.......... ns2.msft.net
Name Server.......... ns3.msft.net
Name Server.......... ns4.msft.net
Greg R @ Nov 29th 2006 11:06PM
Better would mean firefox and yet it doesn't seem to work...
Shagi @ Nov 29th 2006 11:11PM
HALO 3
November 1st 2007
Gilbert @ Nov 29th 2006 11:15PM
When I try to watch the video it takes me to another site. How do I watch?
Falcon @ Nov 29th 2006 11:16PM
You bastards. The site was already bogged down enough, now everyone and their mother is going to be clogging the website. Oh well, now no one will get Vista for free.
Splinter @ Nov 29th 2006 11:27PM
One word.
TORRENT.
Huzzah!! @ Nov 29th 2006 11:36PM
Calm down people, geez. Who cares about Vista? Just wait until your next computer where it's standard. Have some patience.
Iced_Eagle @ Nov 29th 2006 11:51PM
Eh, I already got my complimentary copy from Microsoft of Vista Ultimate for testing it....
Office 2007 here I come! :D
Doomstalk @ Nov 29th 2006 11:46PM
thegrey: Note that the nameserver is Microsoft's.
John @ Nov 29th 2006 11:57PM
Certainly looks questionable. On their contact page they claim:
Why do I have to provide my Social Security Number on a W9 form to receive my gift?
The combined retail value for participants who register and qualify for both the Microsoft Office and Windows Vista offer is $798. IRS rules require that any gift over $600 is taxable which requires us to collect W9 information from participants and to file a 1099 with the IRS for the value of both products. This is why you received an email that directed you to a secure website to provide that information and we must receive it before shipping your product.
I’ve received my Microsoft Office 2007 gift in the mail. Why did you use a download for Office 2007 and not a physical disc?
Due to the heavy demands on Microsoft to produce on-the-shelf retail product for stores it is not always possible to get physical discs made so close to a product launch. We wanted to make sure you didn’t have to wait so we decided to provide you with the product via download rather than wait for a physical DVD.
So.. they're going to ask anyone that gets both (and who wouldn't get Office if they're already going through the process to get Vista?) for ther SSN. Then there's the aspect of not getting physical media. I've participated in a previous MS-based giveaway for VB.NET (before Standard edition was free) that was similar and it seemed a bit different than this as it was hosted on a microsoft subdomain and they actually had links to it from MS' own site.
If anyone could shed any light onto the legitamacy of this it would be appreciated.
Thrall @ Nov 29th 2006 11:59PM
"Neowin confirms that Microsoft have contacted them to reassure them that this is indeed a legitimate offer backed by MS. Note that this offer is only open to US residents who are aged 18 and over."
Negativecool @ Nov 30th 2006 12:20AM
Somehow I think that if a person can afford a rig that will run DX10 generation games at a solid framerate...then I don't think they are going to care about getting vista on the cheap.
Snowcone @ Nov 30th 2006 11:15AM
It's legit and was proven legit the first time it circulated the web earlier this week.
Will @ Nov 30th 2006 12:21AM
I am like one of the 100 people in the world that actully use Media Center so this really disappoints me, I am going to try to get it anyway and probably just give it to a family member.
Crusader Oath @ Nov 30th 2006 12:24AM
Damn american deals not being made available over the border, Wheres the love my neighbors to the south?
Jordan @ Nov 30th 2006 12:28AM
15: remember you can upgrade from business to ultimate very easily from within vista for pretty cheap.
Chris @ Nov 30th 2006 12:31AM
earlier, some one stated that they needed our SSN.
you do not give ANYONE your social secuirty number, especially a website to get windows vista. wtf.
it's called identity theft people. the new wave of crime.
Angelo @ Nov 30th 2006 1:06AM
Aside from this being fishy as hell, I, for one, would prefer having the Media Center functionality for my Xbox 360.
007craft @ Nov 30th 2006 1:07AM
lol you guys are all getting scammed. You never give your SIN to anyone when purchasing a product, no matter what the cost or where its coming from.
Jecrell @ Nov 30th 2006 1:16AM
... tomorrow half of Joystiq will have empty bank accounts and missing identities
dsub @ Nov 30th 2006 1:47AM
delldude420- No, your 7800 will not support DX10. The only cards on the market right now that support DX10 are the new nVidia 8800 line of cards with nVidia's new N80 core. ATI's new cards with the R600 core should be out later this year/early next year. I'm waiting for those as they are the first unified shader model cards to hit PC's (ATI developed the first unified shader GPU for the 360). Since DX10 was developed to take advantage of the unified shaders, I would assume these cards would be able to make much better use of DX10 than their nVidia counterparts.
here's another great vista deal for anyone currently wanting to buy windows xp for whatever reason. through newegg.com:
-Buy Windows XP Home edition: Get a free upgrade to Vista Home Basic for free*
-Buy Windows XP Media Center Edition: Get a free upgrade to Vista Home Premium for free*
-Buy Windows XP Professional: Get a free upgrade to Vista Business for free*
*you still have to pay for S&H when the upgrade is shipped.
The only thing that sucks here (and everywhere else for that matter) is that I still have yet to see any deals on Windows Vista Ultimate, which is the top-of-the-line hardcore gamer oriented version. Regardless, Vista Home Premium should be able to do everything Ultimate can for the most part gaming wise. They all support DX10 as far as I know. The only difference between Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium is that Premium has all the media center functionality built in. Here's a link to the page on newegg.
http://promotions.newegg.com/microsoft/vista/TechGuarn.html
JBGUY2K @ Nov 30th 2006 2:19AM
apparently it's legit:
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=261537
I'm only going for vista. Apparently, if you go for both vista and office, it asks for the SSN. I don't know why, though.
Negativecool @ Nov 30th 2006 2:52AM
"Apparently, if you go for both vista and office, it asks for the SSN. I don't know why, though." -JBGUY2K
Because they want to own your social security so they can turn it into social insecurity...baddum CHING!
Kristopher @ Nov 30th 2006 3:07AM
If you're thinking about doing this, I just watched a bunch of those videos. Granted, you could just have them running in the background, but if you care at all I suggest watching the video on Windows Mobility Features.
It's actually very interesting features that I have not seen or been able to use in any beta or RC version of Vista I have so far. It talks about all the new convenient features they've implemented for laptop users, all of which have met all my desires oh what I would want from an operating system for my laptop.
Just in case anyone wanted to know.
Valaris @ Nov 30th 2006 10:49AM
It won't let me actually watch the videos. When I go to watch them I get the message "The requested recording could not be viewed. The recording ID or password may be incorrect." It appears that it still shows that I viewed them, but I was kind of interested in watching them. I am a developer and probably would have found these interesting. Oh well ._.
Jerzat @ Nov 30th 2006 7:16AM
Please joystiq state when the offers you link to are only available within the US. It's really annoying browsing to the site just to find that like half of the people you sent there can't actually have anything out of the deal.
majortom1981 @ Nov 30th 2006 8:06AM
You do know they ask 4 your ssn so they can send you the information because you still have to pay the taxes when income tax time comes around
KaneRobot @ Nov 30th 2006 10:01AM
No Media Center in Business? Does that mean you can't stream videos to the 360? I know XP and the 360 play semi-nice together since the 360's fall update, but I figured every version of Vista would work fine out of the box.
Any ideas?
Field Anony-mouse @ Nov 30th 2006 10:18AM
"IRS rules require that any gift over $600 is taxable which requires us to collect W9 information from participants and to file a 1099 with the IRS for the value of both products."
Really? Explain to me why when I registered as a DAZ platinum member and was given $750 worth in free content that I didn't have to provide SSN or anything.
I call serious BS on that site. Last time MS dangled soemthing free in front of people (the free flash drive people?) it turned out that their stock was so limited that they ran out after a few thousand. I would also not be surprised to find out that just like when Sony otusourced their rootkit, err, DRM the company the used wasn't quite legit.
G99 @ Nov 30th 2006 10:25AM
I agree with the above. The mobility one is really fascinating.
Others are the templates videos. I found those very approachable and easy to follow.
Neccy @ Nov 30th 2006 10:49AM
Yeah im getting really f-ing fed up of links to US Only offers, i mean fair play for the peeps in america, but i'm sitting across the pond getting screwed over enough and when a glimmer of hope comes it always seems to be squashed by the words "US residents only".
Wheres our free copy of XP, Wheres our Xbox360 for Uber cheap.. not in this country thats for sure.
G99 @ Nov 30th 2006 10:26AM
Yah guys, do not give out your SSN to this. Even if it was legit, office is not worth loosing your identity.
Justin @ Nov 30th 2006 10:58AM
I tried the site, watched 6 videos but all say pending.
Don't have any that say complete? You guys getting complete? I can't do the offer.
The Adept @ Nov 30th 2006 11:08AM
If this isn't opened up to other countries (namely Britain), I'll get a pirate version instead due to the typical only thinking of one country approach of many companies.
stangfan @ Nov 30th 2006 11:11AM
All of my videos say PENDING also
Anyone know what is going on?
G99 @ Nov 30th 2006 11:34AM
Yup all 4 i watched are pending...
Geek26 @ Dec 1st 2006 8:03AM
so... all the pages "cannot be displayed" anyone else?
G99 @ Nov 30th 2006 12:11PM
Guess the website is being slammed. it looks to be down now past the initial home page.
epobirs @ Nov 30th 2006 12:45PM
#22
DSUB, DX10 does not require unified shaders in the GPU. The Shader Model requirements can be easily satisfied with more traditional separate structures. It just so happens that this is the point in time when the hardware side of things is making unified designs practical. The idea has been discussed since DX8 first made hardware shaders an issue at the consumer level.
Running DX10 on DX9 oriented hardware will work just fine. It will just have limited performance, much like running DX9 oriented games on hardware designed for DX8. Graceful degradation has always been an important function within Direct X but must be properly implemented within the game to work as intended.
It should be remembered that a big portion of DX10 is internal restructuring that is completely independent of the GPU used. It has far more to do with how bandwidth loads in games have changed over the years and how to handle that better.
It's going to be a good while before a large base of users have DX10 oriented GPUs in their systems. DX10 games will be designed to run well on strong DX9 hardware for quite some time, while displaying maximum bells and whistles on the latest chips.
Amir @ Nov 30th 2006 3:57PM
This sux. It's only for USA residents. Canadians are yet again left in the dust!
stangfan @ Nov 30th 2006 3:49PM
If the status of your webcast is "PENDING". It will take 24 hours after completing the webcast before it changes to "COMPLETED".
Email response from the support team
=========================================
Hello,
After you complete a webcast, it takes 24 hours for your completion of the offering to be validated in the system. If you completed the webcast, you will receive credit after it has been validated. However, the website will say pending until then. Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Thanks!
Phillip @ Nov 30th 2006 4:05PM
hmmmm.... I did a google search on microsoft's website and can't find anything about this. You'd think if it was legit they'd be advertising it on their site.
Kev @ Nov 30th 2006 6:38PM
You are not eligible to receive these offers if you or your employer is a participant in the Microsoft Partner Program or the Microsoft Developer Network.
Nathan Searcy @ Dec 1st 2006 12:00AM
They ran out finally and closed shop. I got one, though.
The TAX FORM asks for your SSN, not Microsoft. Cause they are giving you more than 600 dollars worth of stuff if you get Vista and Office.
Its called a gift tax. It happens when you get a gift over 600 dollars. And to know who to tax the government has to have your SSN.
I'm not saying to give it out if you don't feel comfortable, but if the site is legit, then so is the need for your SSN is also legit. My recommendation is not to go over the internet but to work with the government directly.
Zamzoph @ Dec 1st 2006 5:20PM
Both Vista and Office as 'sold out' now. Geez, I hope my "pending" videos for Office still qualifies...
kcchiefsguru @ Dec 1st 2006 7:08PM
I have not been able to get into the VISTA pages for a day and a half now. I am fully registered and expect to receive my gift but I still need to confirm that my 3 pendings have moved to complete. Frustrating.
I can, however get to the Office pages.