I think that microsoft is finally doing something right with their Beta system. Even though there were issues the Windows 7 Beta seems to be a success. People who wanted to test it could download and install (maybe not the first 2 days due to capacity of the servers) .
I am currently in the Azure beta (limited beta) and that is also going well. Overall, it seems like Microsoft is catching on by letting people (the public) be part of their beta programs and doing it well. Realizing that the Microsoft Beta is different than the Google Beta (Think Gmail, which just got out of beta).
Here is an article that talks about the Windows 7 beta being extended (Windows 7 Extended till Feb 12)