Redmond (WA) – Microsoft must have been hit with massive interest from users to download the Windows 7 beta today. In fact, the interest was significant enough to take out Microsoft’s download servers as soon as the download was made available and Microsoft has never been able to get the download back up again on Friday. In a mid-Friday blog post, the company announced that the release of the public would be delayed until more server capacity is available. However, there is a direct download link that still works.

“Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta,” Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc wrote. “We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and I’ll be posting here again soon once the beta goes live.” There was no information when additional download capacity will be available.

Microsoft also removed the download links and Windows 7 beta information that was previously available on the company’s TechNet pages. However, Neowin posted direct download links (32-bit, 64-bit) that enable users to download the full version of Windows 7.
 
According to user reports, the connection was still fast late Friday: We heard of connection speeds between 300 and 550 KB/s. However, since Windows 7 beta is a 2.4 GB package, expect the download to take somewhere between one and two hours.