Windows 7 Beta is now free to download for the first 2.5 million users. The New York Times has an interesting article on it here, outlining the various improvements. Worth a read.

What’s especially interesting is the content they’ve borrowed from Mac. I’m no raving Mac fan, but I do own one, and certain features like the dock – containing icons of all your favourite programs – are finally going to be implemented in Windows 7, replacing the old quick launch section. This is excellent. I use the quick launch section religiously, but I often click on the wrong tiny little icon.

If I had more time, I’d download and play around with the new OS – if only to test drive IE8 which comes with it.