Without going through connect.microsoft.com as well. Follow this link to either download a copy or have them mail you a few disks. Now, watch out because they are really being weasels about this:
In software development, a "beta release" of a product is one that is still in development but is published for testing purposes. Evaluate the next release of Microsoft Office products for testing and planning purposes with 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2. The beta release contains all the functionality of the regular release, but is not the final product."
Oh god I hate PR weasels. What they fail to mention in the above text is that Beta, Microsoft for "broken", is a mirracle of software development when software actually works. Should you be stupid enough to test their hypothesis and destroy your system Microsoft will send you to a newsgroup where you will have to rely on kindness of strangers to get yourself back to normal. Or perhaps it will work flawlessly the first time. Thats the risk, feel free to gamble if you wish.
Now that I've covered this for end users, if you're an IT Pro I'm sure you're already brewing that image of XP to try this on. The interface, interaction and behavior of 2007 is drastically different and in two simple words – kicks ass. Downloading as we speak!
For the less coherent, more grammatically correct realtime insight, follow me on Twitter at