Microsoft is distributing the latest beta version of Vista as a free Web download - and gets hammered for that. Literally. The servers seem to be heavily overloaded, which leads Microsoft to advertise the DVD version iof the beta. Chris Pirillo and Jake Ludington didn't want to wait - and so they started Vistatorrent.com to distribute the software as a Bittorrent download. So far Microsoft hasn't officially objected.

The idea is hardly new tho. The fine folks at Downhillbattle.org did the same thing when the service pack 2 for XP came out. After a short while they got a C&D notice, whch brought the little experiment to an end. We'll see if Microsoft has learned anything this time around.

Update: Bittorrent.com is hosting another Windows Vista beta Torent. has deleted their torrent as well.