Microsoft to charge for Office Beta 2

Microsoft plans next week to charge a nominal fee for Office 2007 Beta 2 downloads, in a move that runs counter to the practice held by most software companies. Consumers who download the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 will be charged $1.50 per download, beginning next Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Is this a cheap way to earn extra cash before final release, or a way to pay for all the money they lost on bandwidth during Vista Beta 2 season. Obviously, Office Beta 2 is not going to skyrocket like Vista… but charging people to test your software just seems wrong.