So, I got a response from Microsoft regarding “What’s the point of saying things like that to me?”
Here follows the reply:
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Hello,
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service.
This is regarding the Service Request SRX1109907523ID.
We have received a reply from our colleagues and they have stated that Microsoft does not use BitTorrent or other P2P as an official distribution vehicle for Microsoft products.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please write back to us.
Thank you,
(name removed)
Microsoft Customer Service Representative
If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service experience, please send it to my manager, (name removed), by clicking the link below.
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Talk about not seeing the forest for the frickin’ trees.
Yeah, I sent feedback. Here it is:
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Subject: I wasn’t asking about P2P or BitTorrent!
The answer I got in this case makes no sense whatsoever. I wasn’t asking for Microsoft-authorized BitTorrents or P2P, since I know they won’t happen until they get their heads out of somewhere.
What I _was_ asking for is publically available file verification hashes on your files, especially the large ones like the Windows 7 RC DVD ISO! If I keep the ISO on a computer, I want to ensure it has the proper MD5, SHA-1 or SHA-512 hash.
The only time that BitTorrent even comes up is when mentioning that I had to find a site which DID have the hash around. They just happened to be uploading .torrents of the x86 and x64 ISOs to a particular BitTorrent site and helpfully posted the hashes for the full downloads from Microsoft (and, yes, I DID download the ISO from Microsoft).
I should not have to rely on a third party for something as simple as file verification hashes, especially on files >50-100MB. There is a very good reason that most Linux distributions have an MD5 or other verification file hash side-by-side to the download links.
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