"Today, Microsoft released its first wave of invitations for the Windows 7 beta test. The invitations were only sent to a small, select group of 'technical beta' testers.

In the email sent to invited testers, Microsoft states that the beta is not available for download right away. A reliable Russian website (demo:demo) has claimed that the beta Microsoft will upload is build 7000.0.081212-1400, built December 12th. They also claim the build will be made available to testers within the next 48 hours."