First it was Australian television broadcaster Channel 9 leaking episodes of UnderBelly 2 to Torrent sites as viewers went online to play catch up after the debut of the new series.
Now, as users find the official download period for the Windows 7 beta coming to an end, curious Windows fans (if there is such a term) are turning to the big torrent sites for help with last minute copies.
A new 'post-beta' build of Windows 7 has reportedly popped up on popular BitTorrent sites, including the usual suspects such as Mininova and the Pirate Bay.
A quick search on either the Mininova or Pirate Bay sites revealed the Windows 7 Build 7022 as the most likely post-release candidate. Although, typing in Windows 7 on either site will bring you loads of search hits and not every file is equal; some are fakes and warnings can be found, displayed in the comments.
The 2.47Gb 7022 build seems to be doing good business on BitTorrent, generating over 1300 seeders and 90 comments on Mininova when we last checked. Several users have noted in their comments that this build also includes the sought after IE8 Release Candidate.
Based on test results over at Xtreview, the new Windows 7 build is proving to be faster than the previous beta and quicker to install (10 mins, 27 seconds). More tellingly, Xtreview noted that the 7022 beta has a 3-5% better performance rating than both Windows XP and 10 - 15% higher than Windows Vista SP1 (32bit).
Whether this is a safe method of getting hold of Windows 7, we're not so sure.