Microsoft claims that over 10 million people contributed to the Windows 7 Beta some way through the opt-in Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). Surely the significance of suggestions coming in from so many testers would have an impact on the way Microsoft looked at Windows 7 during development, right? Maybe not.

Mary Jo Foley from ZDNet reveals that Microsoft had hand-picked 40 or so individuals who she refers to as the “real” Windows 7 testers. These so-called “Test Pilots” are the ones who had the most impact in regards to submitting feedback to the Windows team during development. The Test Pilots also received builds a lot earlier than everyone else that was part of the testing community. Taking into consideration Microsoft’s emphasis on telemetry gathered from the community, it is very well possible that these Test Pilots and the TAP partners were the only real external parties that had any real impact on the final product of Windows 7. You can read the rest of Mary Jo’s story here.

Microsoft continues to insist that this is not true by continously stating across all its blogs that testers’ feedback made a difference in Windows 7. In spite of Microsoft’s statements, the general response from the beta testing community of Windows 7 has not been too positive. Testers have been complaining about the vague responses received for their suggestions and complaints, that mostly comprised of phrases such as “by design” or “won’t fix”

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. Read the rest at windows7center.com.