Just download the iso, and download Daemon Tools (Search on google, it's free). You can use Daemon Tools to emulate another DVD drive, using the iso as the DVD. Go to the DVD, click setup, and go.
All the necessary files will be copied to the harddrive so that when the computer has to restart during the installation, you don't have to worry about starting up the emulator again.
This worked well for me. I've enjoyed using Vista. It has a few neat things going for it, but nothing huge. The only problem I've had is with using Opera. But Firefox works great.
If we download the pre-release version, what happens when it is officially released in 2007? Are we forced to pay the $99 upgrade, or can we just keep using the pre-release version for free?
I've been using Vista since Beta 2. I just got the RC1 version in the mail. It's a really nice OS but very buggy still. It crashes fairly often on my notebook but I really like the features it has. I hope they work out the kinks because they're really deal breakers for me if they don't resolve them.