Microsoft Gets Desperate - Free Vista Business, Office Pro 2007

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft Gets Desperate - Free Vista Business, Office Pro 2007

by Dan Lurie Nov 28th 2006

This isn't exactly the kind of promotion one normally sees leading up to a major OS update. PowerTogether.com is a promotion put on officially by Microsoft offering full licenses of Windows Vista Business or Microsoft Office Professional 2007 to any US resident (sorry international readers) willing to watch 3 (for each license) informational video or interactive presentations, answer a few questions regarding the content of the presentations, and ~~sign over your first born~~ give them a bunch of personal information.

Now, I can vouch for the legitimacy of this promotion, as Microsoft has done this kind of thing in the past (I participated in one about 3 years ago to get a free copy of Visual Studio, which I to this day have never taken out of the package). The subject matter of the presentations may be imposing to some, but if PowerTogether is anything like the VS promotion, the answers to the questions are more about the quality of the content than the content itself.

The PowerTogether promotion requires IE6 or higher to complete.

Update: Sean from Microsoft has confirmed that the site is part of a legitimate promotion. The site is struggling under the weight of all you guys hitting it at the same time. Patience is a virtue.

Tags: microsoft desperate vista office powertogether, MicrosoftDesperateVistaOfficePowertogether

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Erik said 10:25AM on 11-28-2006

I don't care about Vista... but I wouldn't mind a copy of office. Problem is, the site seems to be down...

Jazo said 11:22AM on 11-28-2006

I "participated" in one of these things this past Spring. It was some online business presentation thingy. By "participated" I mean signed on and minimized the browser. :) They sent out a free full licensed version of MS Office Business Edition 2006 for the first X number of people -- I got it within 6-8 weeks. No complaints.

John said 11:41AM on 11-28-2006

A copy of office would be great, I wonder which version you get, does anyone know?

Flipsy said 11:44AM on 11-28-2006

The post makes almost no sense-- MS must be desperate, you don't see this kind of thing normally, but oh, they've done it before.

It sounds more like this is something MS does fairly regularly, and generally if it were anyone but Microsoft giving something away, the word 'cool' would be in the post.

Forrest said 11:44AM on 11-28-2006

I find this HIGHLY dubious. The whois comes back as Philip Colebrook in London with a tech contact in Sweden. The nameservers are msft.net which was registered via Tucows. This does not feel real or trustworthy.

I tried completing this but ran into trouble after signing in (would not complete, said my session expired every time).

If you have signed in via passport to this site I suggest you change your password asap.

Frank said 11:49AM on 11-28-2006

Looks like a good deal to learn about Vista and Office and then get a copy. Unfortunately, I can't get to the Webinars and when I login to my Live.com account, it shows me as "Guest". Maybe there's a problem with the site...

VJ said 11:51AM on 11-28-2006

aww, it's asking for business title/name/address....should i just make up something?

John said 11:54AM on 11-28-2006

Maybe I will wait and see if anyone here completes this.

Its office pro to answer my own question

Jaya said 11:56AM on 11-28-2006

Not exactly confidence-inspiring. No matter how fast I click my selections, I get a "We’re sorry, your session may have expired. To start over click here. " message.

Brad said 12:05PM on 11-28-2006

That site is driving me nuts. I choose three webcasts and then it keeps telling me, your session has expired.

But the funniest thing is, when exploring that site, the phishing filter on IE7 filtered something on that site.

Robert said 12:11PM on 11-28-2006

Yeah, the whois info does NOT look like the same place that Dan did got his software earlier. This domain was not registered until October 2006, so I would be VERY !!!! cautious. It DOES switch to the "live.com" site for the passport login, but that's as far as I got. It may well be a contract arrangement with this group.

The IP address does come back to Bellevue, WA, and I sent an email to Brad Shaw (bradsh@microsoft.com) whose email was shown in the source for the home page to see what he says. I ASSuME that someone with a "microsoft.com" email address HAS to be for real, huh?

felipe said 12:21PM on 11-28-2006

free??? first they have to get the site working correctly and then ask to view the stupid webcasts.

i'm going to stay with office12 beta for now and vista can wait a year or more

MacGuffin said 12:33PM on 11-28-2006

I'm getting the "We’re sorry, your session may have expired. To start over click here. "

I'm a huge whore and would love to get Vista for free, so I will try again.

If anyone gets through, let us know.

John said 12:34PM on 11-28-2006

Make sure to post here if you hear from Brad Shaw (bradsh@microsoft.com)..... thanks

Robert said 12:46PM on 11-28-2006

The site does have the same registrar (Tucows) and nameserver (nsx.msft.net) as microsoft.com - so maybe it is real - regardless of where the registrant is??

Forrest said 12:55PM on 11-28-2006

@Robert

Good point, didn't expect Microsoft to use Tucows as their registrar.. but I guess we all gotta use someone.

Okay I take back my accusal of it being a phish site, but it still feels shady, especially since it doesn't at this time even work.

Shaun said 12:57PM on 11-28-2006

"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)."

They need a W-9 form? Sounds like a scam to me.

Scott said 1:16PM on 11-28-2006

When I saw this on Amit Agarwal's site (labnol.blogspot.com) early this morning, I registered. The registration went very smoothly, from the original site, to Live.com, and back. The confirmation email came back to me immediately, from "Vista Series Support (Support-VistaSeries@response.microsoft.com)," and I recently replied to that email, asking for confirmation of its' legitimacy. Nothing back yet, but it's only been a few minutes...

I also called Microsoft (at various numbers), and was unable to reach anyone who could answer my questions about the site/promotion; Seattle has had some horrible weather the last few weeks--particularly the last 24 hours, and they're probably significantly understaffed today. Even their phone menu system makes reference to the bad weather.

WD said 1:20PM on 11-28-2006

reasons of why this may be a scam...

The whois comes back as Philip Colebrook in London.
The nameservers are msft.net
Apparently no one can view the webcasts or register.
when you sign in you appear as guest.
Page design is poor and it does not resemble any other microsoft pages.
Sometimes page layout is left sometimes is centered.
microsoft logo has been resized.(with bad proportions by the way)
and last but not least it's asking for your live sign in, which in microsoft real website does not ask you once for it

Peter said 1:36PM on 11-28-2006

Also note that if you want both items, they require you to provide your SSN for the W-9 since the "value of your gift exceeds $600" I'll give them my disposable email address and work phone number, but I'm not giving them my SSN and paying taxes just to get both.

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