Watch a few online vids, get a free copy of Vista or Office

Want a free and legal copy of Windows Vista, but don't mind jumping through a few hoops to get it? This just sounds too good to be true: get a free copy of Vista Business or Office 2007 Pro just for watching a couple of Microsoft propaganda videos. Apparently Microsoft is either feeling really generous, or doesn't think that people are going to fork over the few hundred bucks to get a copy of Vista before building a little viral buzz, but either way apparently all you've got to do is register at Power Together, and "participate in at least three (3) qualifying web casts and/or virtual lab sessions within 30 days of registration," and then, 6-8 weeks after that, you'll apparently get a real, licensed DVD in the mail. Yeah, we were skeptical too, but then we saw a post on Microsoft's own Channel 9 blog by Mark Brown, a Microsoft developer and platform marketing employee, who confirms that this odd website is his doing. Still, we'll reserve full-blown belief until we see some sort of real documentation that someone actually received a DVD after having watched these vids. And even then we'll probably hold out until Vista Ultimate goes up on the block.

[Via Robert McLaws]

Read - Power Together
Read - Mark Brown

Update: We've got confirmation from another source inside Microsoft that this is, in fact, the real deal. He also told us that the number of copies of software that Microsoft has available for this offer is in the "five-digit range" (that's somewhere from 10,000 - 100,000).

[mb @ Nov 29th 2006 12:09PM]

Reminds me of their "Fill out some surveys and we'll send you a thumbdrive" campaign, which ended 6 weeks later with "just kidding."

[rems @ Nov 29th 2006 8:22PM]

The thing is that this one is true but that it is limited to only about 300 million people and then to those that are aware of this program :( t3h s\/ck can you send me a copy ?
Why couldn't they do a version of this contest for NORTH AMERICA or WORLDWIDE excuse me but it's not only the US that are paying for their OS it's worldwide that people pay for it (and hack it :) ).

[Nobuyuki Idei @ Nov 29th 2006 12:10PM]

It will be reported to the IRS, which means that you'll be taxed on the full purchase price of Vista, which means that you'll probably pay (in taxes) about the same amount as you can get cheap OEM version of Vista for.

[suntiger @ Nov 29th 2006 12:26PM]

Only if you take both offers. And who needs Office when you can get Vista?

[N2h @ Nov 29th 2006 12:12PM]

Rights whats the link????

[SIMON GOLDBERGER @ Nov 29th 2006 12:15PM]

Not trying to burst your ballon but a quick reverse lookup of the powertogether.com domain shows the following admin address

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.......... **********@gmail.com
Admin Phone.......... [phone]
Admin Fax............

Now call me a sceptic but cant see Microsoft using a gmail account to register the domain nor can I see them using an address in New Cross London....

But I hope to stand corrected!!!!!

[portwineboy @ Nov 29th 2006 12:40PM]

If you look at the rest of the Whois you can see that the site is using msft.net name servers, something which would not be possible without Msoft's permission as far as I know.

[TS @ Nov 29th 2006 12:16PM]

The site has been buckling under the load since yesterday. This offer runs for quite a while. I'd check back in a day or two to see if its easily accessible.

[mb @ Nov 29th 2006 12:17PM]

Also odd that the domain is owned by some guy in London and has a very suspect SSL Cert. The NS are msft.net, but not sure if that's actually microsoft or not.

[mewantphone @ Nov 29th 2006 12:18PM]

* The Power Together Campaign consists of two (2) offers, the Windows Vista Business Offer and the Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Offer, and is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia) 18 years of age or older. 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. To be eligible to receive Windows Vista Business, you must register at www.powertogether.com and participate in at least three (3) qualifying web casts and/or virtual lab sessions within 30 days of registration. To be eligible to receive Microsoft Office Professional 2007, you must register at www.powertogether.com and participate in at least three (3) qualifying web casts and/or virtual lab sessions within 30 days of registration. In order to register at www.powertogether.com, you may be asked to provide personal information including name, telephone, and address. All personal information gathered during registration will be subject to Microsoft�s privacy policy. Limit one gift per person per Offer. These offers are non-transferable. These offers expire on February 28, 2007, or while supplies last, and are not redeemable for cash. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. If you are eligible for and register to receive both gifts, you must complete a W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) form prior to receipt of the second gift. Any gift returned as non-deliverable will not be re-sent. Please allow 6 - 8 weeks for shipment of your gift(s).

Government Customers: Microsoft intends that use of the services and products offered as part of this promotion comply with applicable federal, state, provincial, and local government gift and ethics rules. If you are a government employee (including an employee of a public education institution), these services and products may be used for evaluation purposes only, solely for the benefit of your agency or institution, and not for the personal use or benefit of any individual. You should consult with your agency or institution counsel or ethics officer prior to use of these services or products. You may return the products to Microsoft at its expense.

[George @ Nov 29th 2006 12:20PM]

Only US 50 states. Damn.

[yournamehere @ Nov 29th 2006 12:21PM]

Anybody notice this site is registered to "MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE, Philip Colebrook, London"?

Is this a legitimate site?

[colin6969 @ Nov 29th 2006 12:42PM]

acutally i've noticed microsoft uses melbourne for their registry stuff....if you try registering a name via Office Live, that's what you get.

[scoopr @ Nov 29th 2006 12:26PM]

Seems to be "engadget'd"

[John Bunka @ Nov 29th 2006 12:29PM]

Well by now they are probably out of free anything

[Jason Hadfield @ Nov 29th 2006 12:35PM]

https://vsd.powertogether.com/Campaign.aspx

[hum @ Nov 29th 2006 12:44PM]

Is that the universal binary logo; rotated?

[Gil @ Nov 29th 2006 1:18PM]

*slaps forehead*

No it's not. IT's the Ying Yang.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ying_Yang

The Universal binary logo is also inspired by the Ying Yang

[Daniel @ Nov 29th 2006 2:06PM]

Yeah, the first thing I thought when I first saw it is that it looked like the Universal Binary logo, too.

[Dan @ Nov 30th 2006 12:59PM]

Such is Apple's mystique now, that if they use something (in this case a symbol whose use dates back thousands of years), it sudenly becomes their invention, and anyone using it is "copying" them. At this point I wouldn't be suprised if Apple fans began claiming that the fruit was named after the company.

[ellianth @ Nov 29th 2006 12:49PM]

They do this all the time with their products. I did one for visual studio 2005, i watched 3 webcasts (didn't even have to watch them because of a bug in firefox) and then 4 weeks later i got a package with visual studio, a book, and some coupons for free exams. My friends who watched the webcasts also got it too, but they got theirs in like 1 week.

[Earl @ Nov 29th 2006 12:59PM]

Don't watch the videos!! They are filled with subliminal messages so you buy everything M$ AND sacrifice your first born son.

[Hito @ Nov 29th 2006 1:03PM]

Microsoft had a similar campaign years ago, I received a free copy of Visual Basic from it, no strings attached. I'm skeptical about a free copy of Windows, but I have nothing worth stealing, so what's the harm in trying?

[Tech^Cellfish @ Nov 29th 2006 1:04PM]

Are they gonna sell email adresses for $1 a pop after collecting?

Better register with with a mytrashmail.com email adress then

Damn: Only US (but why is the domain londonish then?

[Vic @ Nov 29th 2006 1:43PM]

I just tried to register and keep getting, Sorry, a System Error Occurred at the last step of the process.

[Kain Azeroth @ Nov 29th 2006 1:07PM]

Poor little webserver can't handle the load.

[Jason Golden @ Nov 29th 2006 1:07PM]

There are some other really good Microsoft giveaway for Webcasts and Virtual Labs too right now:

* Webcasts: Toshiba Gigabeat PMCs and Microsoft Zunes www.microsoft.com/webcasts
* Virtual Labs: XBox 360 giveaway through December. www.microsoft.com/virtuallabs
* Special giveaway for TechNet Office group called New Ball Game. They're giving away an Acer Ferrari laptop and other prizes each month through June. www.microsoft.com/events/newballgame.mspx

[Dismissedasdrone @ Nov 29th 2006 1:24PM]

* Webcasts: Toshiba Gigabeat PMCs and Microsoft Zunes www.microsoft.com/webcasts
* Virtual Labs: XBox 360 giveaway through December. www.microsoft.com/virtuallabs
* Special giveaway for TechNet Office group called New Ball Game. They're giving away an Acer Ferrari laptop and other prizes each month through June. www.microsoft.com/events/newballgame.mspx

These are all "could win" situations...

Regardless, I can't get through the PowerTogether registrion without the "Sorry, a System Error Occurred" message, so that's a "can't win."

Hrm, I never did get my free MSFT thumbdrive...

*

[El T @ Nov 29th 2006 1:08PM]

If you look here:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/08/microsoft_icann_office_live/

You'll see that Melbourne IT have been MS's registra up till very recent.

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Nov 29th 2006 1:09PM]

That logo looks like Apple's Universal Binary LOGO: http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/a/a3/Universal_Binary_Logo.png

[JP @ Nov 29th 2006 2:07PM]

Ya probably, but the Universal logo is just another Yen-Yag derivative anyway. Not exactly a new shape.

[Christian Martin @ Nov 29th 2006 1:11PM]

Farthest I can proceed is a cute "Sorry, a System Error Occurred" message.

[Rick Wills @ Nov 29th 2006 1:13PM]

All this is, is a sleazy attempt to make you watch the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SZzAT-S5DQ also, no one can actually register for the webcast because powertogether.com has 'perpetual issues' and the webcasts don;t actually exist I think they might have used that Gmail account to throw people off but using the MSFT name serves is a dead give away.

[Chad @ Nov 29th 2006 1:25PM]

I'm watching one of the webcasts now, seems pretty legit to me. Actually, I'm watching the one on widget creation for the sidebar and it's fairly interesting. I downloaded the video so I don't know how they know if I'm actually watching it or not but since I am, hopefully it will work out.

[Jlivengo @ Nov 29th 2006 1:42PM]

I registered but am not sure how they track the video progress. After registration you're taken to Microsoft Office Live Meeting to view the video or download it.

[ComputeShop @ Nov 29th 2006 1:43PM]

The offer is NO longer valid. A lot of people are reporting that all the free copies are already sold out for the offer within a few hours.

I still don't like that they ask for my social security number and other personal information.

[tiuk @ Nov 29th 2006 1:43PM]

Well, it's worth trying. I'm already getting a free copy of Vista from MSDN:AA, but they don't carry Office, so a free copy of that would be nice.

[Novox @ Nov 29th 2006 1:43PM]

Seems HIGHLY suspect. OTP with Microsoft now.

[SBGamesCone @ Nov 29th 2006 1:49PM]

It's not being engadgeted, it's been like this since yesterday morning. It's actually more accessible now than it was yesterday and why is it so hard to believe that MS is behind this? I have tons of free software from them from the last few years just for doing menial things like this. I'll let you know how real it is when I install Vista.

[Novox @ Nov 29th 2006 1:51PM]

Confirmed with Microsoft R-U Legit. This site NOT an officially sponsored Microsoft site. They find the domain registrant to be suspicious, and above all else they guarantee they would never ask for your SSN, which this site does.

This is a coregistration marketing site where something free is promised if you jump through some hoops. Meanwhile the site author is raking in the dough on all of the clicks & impressions it is stirring up.

[Kevin @ Nov 29th 2006 1:52PM]

Anyone else nervous that you have to provide your SSN to them? That's the one piece of info you should be very careful with.

[Jason @ Nov 29th 2006 1:54PM]

I wouldn't expect the load to get any lighter. If word of mouth starts to catch on this site is either going to stop offering the free version or just constantly be showing a system error like I received.

Another great example of Microsoft's poor planning.

[Stoneanvil @ Nov 29th 2006 1:56PM]

I'm watching one of the videos right now. They are very developer oriented, but hey free Office & Vista.

StoneAnvil

[Nobuyuki Idei @ Nov 29th 2006 7:38PM]

Say goodbye to your identity.

[john bluemke @ Nov 29th 2006 1:59PM]

This may be a stupid question, but doesnt it say you have to work for the government, or educational system to qualify??

So if you dont , you cant get it?

[Dave Bergschneider @ Nov 29th 2006 2:05PM]

Now only if the site would stop giving system errors.

[Jason Hadfield @ Nov 29th 2006 2:10PM]

has anyone actually been able to get past the register screen... it keeps timing out on me.

[andy @ Nov 29th 2006 2:34PM]

I completed office registration but the vista registration is hosed.

[Christian Martin @ Nov 29th 2006 2:56PM]

"Microsoft" and "Error": Power Together�

[Food @ Nov 29th 2006 3:18PM]

The site's been absolutely hammered since yesterday afternoon. I wonder how many free copies of Vista they'll have to send out?