Does earning $10 for 10 minutes sound too good to be true? Normally, you would be right, but not today. Nope, no typos here: this semester, up to 200 NEIU students can receive a $10 gift card for 10 minutes of their time.
For the next 10 weeks, Microsoft is offering $10 gift cards for 20 students per week as part of its effort to promote its new operating system, Windows 7. All a student has to do is complete a 10-minute online demo (essentially an online survey/questionnaire) and he or she will receive a $10 gift card. There is no further commitment or action required beyond the 10-minute online demo to receive the gift card. Not only is this a great way to get some quick money, it’s also a chance for students to learn more about Windows 7. Windows 7 is the latest version of Microsoft Windows, which will be released on October 22nd, for use on desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs.
A lot of Windows users were disappointed with Microsoft’s last Windows release ”Vista” because its ”Aero” interface was so flashy and memory-intensive that it required major hardware upgrades. And there were the annoying security prompts that irritated many users. As a result, many decided to stay with Windows XP. Is Windows 7 going to be just another Vista, or will it actually improve on where Vista failed? The initial reviews for Windows 7 seem to be positive. Paul Miller from Engadget.com reviewed Windows 7 in August and in his review wrote, “Where Vista felt like a sprawling mess, Windows 7 has patched up the holes and feels like a tight, unified mechanism.” And Renai LeMay of Cnet.com sums up his review of Windows 7 by saying, “In general, this signals that Microsoft has spent a lot of effort with Windows 7 on delivering a solid operating system that won’t ”wow” anyone but will satisfy them on a much deeper level. In other words, just what the doctor–and the customers–ordered.”Thus, it would be safe to say that Windows 7 is a step in the right direction and seems to have patched many of the annoyances found in Windows Vista. However, the reviews thus far have all been based on the Beta version of Windows 7. Although it’s unlikely the final release will be significantly different from the Beta, the jury’s still out until October 22nd, and we’ll have to wait until then to really know if Windows 7 is good enough to be our next operating system.
In the meantime, let’s get our free 10 bucks. And rumor has it that Microsoft may have some contests at NEIU in which they give out free gear (“swag”). If you’re interested in taking the demo, or if you have any questions, please email NEIU’s campus rep for Microsoft: windows7neiu@live.com.