The official beta of Microsoft's follow-up to Win2k, Whistler, looks set to start in October. BetaNews reports that the company's past and current beta testers have received an email inviting them to apply for the "Windows Whistler Technical Beta," the deadline for applications being September 15th.

Microsoft is not however accepting applications from beta testers who haven't got previous experience of testing Microsoft products, and Whistler being a prestige project, there's likely to be a lot of demand from the existing crew.

BetaNews however has some helpful hints for beta testers who want Microsoft to love them. Mail betareq@microsoft.com for general information, and start off by applying for a smaller test. Then be very, very good. BetaNews suggests trying directx@microsoft.com, and has also started a thread for hints for MS testing wannabes, which you'll find here. ®