Windows Live Hotmail Ready To Leave Beta
All indications are that the long beta process for Windows Live Hotmail is drawing to a close. Live Hotmail beta testers got an email telling them of the “rewards” for participating in the beta. Testers get a special “Beta Signature Badge”, an image they can put in their email signatures letting others know they were one of the first. While this might make for some nice geek cred, I know my wife, a beta tester, was confused, and was dissapointed when she realized she wasn’t getting an actual, physical badge, which would have been far cooler.
The badges are:
I liked the third one best, but she was more into the first one. Of course, she was the tester, not me, so her opinion wins.
The other gift is $100 off a Gateway FX530 PC with Windows Vista Ultimate. Of course, since you have to be spending at least nine hundred dollars on a PC to get the coupon, and adding Vista Ultimate to a Vista Premium PC costs $160, I doubt you’ll be seeing more than a very small number of people taking advantage of this offier. They also “offer” you the Buy Local promotion, which is confusing, because it’s already available to everyone.
I’m not saying these rewards are bad. The badge is cute, not for everyone, and the savings try, but ultimately don’t deliver. Maybe they should have just made some physical badges and send them out, or given some Microsoft Points or something.
