Vista_ultimate_wallpaper_black_by_d Okay, I know yesterday I told you about Microsoft offering free software once you completed their little "Feedback Program" right? Well, today Microsoft says - "Nope. Sorry, you snooze you lose."

Here's the write up from Computer World:

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday withdrew an offer of free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 in exchange for consumers agreeing to install monitoring software, saying it had exhausted the supply of software.

Until mid-afternoon Tuesday, the company's Windows Feedback Program was handing out copies of Vista Ultimate, Office Ultimate 2007 and other software to users who agreed to complete regular surveys and to install a program that tracked Windows and Office use for three months.

According to ComputerWorld, Microsoft "exhausted" their supply by Tuesday afternoon, early enough for astute Morning Paper readers to jump in line, but too late for everyone else.

References to the Windows Feedback Program and the free offer go back to at least early November, but Microsoft did not publicize the deal. Apparently, only Tuesday, after several Web sites and blogs, including NotebookReview.com and Engadget, posted accounts of the program and link to its Web site, did the news, and, those asking for free software, reach critical mass.

Yours truly jumped in the news when I found out but I didn't get my "activation code" sent to my @live.com account until 5:33 AM PST. So does that make me in or out?

I don't know if I want to click through now only to be told I'm too late. I like Microsoft but I don't need them snooping around my systems without some kind of payoff. I won't even go into what they might find. But something should be said for getting in under the wire, right?

At least tell me upfront if I'm still eligible for my free copy of Vista (Ultimate, no less) that I'm refusing to purchase.

The upside? At least there are a lot of people interested in getting Vista or Office. Or is it just because we all want something for nothing?

via Gizmodo

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