As I mentioned perhaps all too subtly in my Ballmer keynote post, Windows 7 Beta is now available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, with wide availability on Friday, January 9. [Microsoft]

After a couple weeks in which the 360 posted better sales numbers than the PS3 and it was revealed that Sony inadvertently funded Microsoft’s next-gen development efforts, you’d think Microsoft execs would be getting a little cocky, but it sounds instead like they’re expecting a renewed offensive from Sony based on price.

Less than two weeks after the 32-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta was leaked, the 64-bit version has also made its way to BitTorrent sites. However, a public beta is expected soon, so you may want to wait. [Ars Technica]

So long Vista, we hardly knew ye. According to Techarp, Microsoft will be working with PC makers to offer a cheap and easy upgrade path for people who buy Vista machines after July 1st.

A similar program was initiated just before the transition from XP to Vista to prevent a slowdown in sales, so it looks like the mid-2009 target for WIndows 7 is still on track. [Techarp via Sillcon Alley Insider]

Today is the Macworld keynote, which means you will be buried in Apple news for a large chunk of the day. Unless! You turn off Apple coverage. It’s easy.

All you’ve gotta do is click here. You can even subscribe to it as an RSS feed, so you can read 100 percent Apple-free Giz 99.9 percent of the time.

Well, here’s an interesting twist to this story. That mysterious and completely enraging “Zune bug” that cropped up on the final day of 2008 may not have been restricted to Microsoft PMPs. A much smaller cadre of Toshiba Gigabeat users reportedly experienced similar issues, and some even noted that the whole “discharge and re-date” rigmarole fixed their unit right up as well.

Anythingbutipod and Ihaveazune have done some research and have discovered that the 30GB Zune failing bug also affects its twin brother, the Toshiba Gigabeat S. According to them, the culprit is the power management circuit.

The fiend is Freescale’s MC13783 PMIC—chips used to regulate and control power—which is used in the the Gigabeat S Series.

TechCrunch has a quick rundown of everything that Steve Ballmer will supposedly be announcing at Microsoft’s CES keynote. Surprise (well, not), it’s all stuff we already know:

• Windows 7 will hit public beta (or just grab the torrent now)
• Windows Mobile will get Flash by March (weeeeee!)
• Two Halo games for Xbox 360 (this one and this one) this year
• Less terrible home networking (”I’m not kidding” says TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld.)

It’s hard to be exciting when everything you’re announcing is an open “secret.” The Windows 7 public beta would be a biggie, except we’ve already touched, groped and licked it, as has everyone else who really cares at this point.

Sometimes it’s easy to lose perspective amidst marketing. Case in point: Nielsen measured that gamers, on whole, spent 31% of their time on the PS2 in 2008 (more than the Xbox 360 and Wii combined).

The other interesting, though not necessarily surprising finding was that the gaming population spends more time playing the 360 than the Wii, despite the 360’s lower install base.

Apparently there’s a huge storm coming up in New Bedford, which will cover most of Massachusetts with a low pressure Windows software error system, and tornado watches for the western region of NBC’s weather PC.

According to reader Cody, this happened live on his local NBC affiliate station.