The first beta of Microsoft's next operating system has ended up in the paws of a number of reviewers who have given it the thumbs up.

While Microsoft has not said anything about the release, the beta has popped up on torrent trackers as an ISO file. ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes also reports on Windows 7, calling it "solid and fast." He said that the new revamped taskbar is visually interesting and a lot easier to use at higher screen resolutions than the Vista or XP taskbar. 

However, in his view it tries  to do too much and  is kludgey and counter-intuitive. At the moment it is hard to tell the difference between apps that are running and shortcuts that have been pinned to the taskbar.

It seems that Microsoft is going flat out to get Windows 7 into the shops.  If it is at the beta stage then it is earlier than many have expected.