Most of you reading this blog have been beta testing Windows 7 for quite some time, but most of you also were not “officially” invited by Microsoft to do the beta testing. Getting in to be a Microsoft beta tester is very difficult, but in the past, we’ve heard that Microsoft offers great perks such as a free version of Windows for every user that has submitted a bug report. Of course, the main benefit of being an official beta tester is to get access to software before they are released to the public.

Windows Observer has written a great post documenting his 6-year journey to becoming an official Microsoft Beta Tester. Thanks to his advice though, you probably won’t have to spend half a decade trying. You can read the advice he offers here.

Getting in to be a Microsoft Beta Tester used to be so hard (IMHO).  I spent about 6 years trying to get in.  I can remember back when there was an email alias to Microsoft that you had to send an email to.  You would get an automatic reply that had you answer several details about who you were, your background and experience and what program you wanted to test in.  Of course back then my goal was to test the Windows operating system.

Well try as I might in those days I never got a reply or accepted into any program.  So I continued learning and tweaking all that I could.  I would resend that email every once in a while hoping to get accepted but it never came.

Then a few years ago along came Microsoft Connect.

Related posts:

1. Ed Bott explains five things every Windows 7 Beta tester should know and how feedback is treated Ed Bott whipped out two great posts on Windows 7 that I think beta testers…
2. Microsoft sends out Windows 7 Beta 1 Invites Update: We’ve included a copy of the letter sent out to the invitees as well:…

. Read the rest at windows7center.com.