I know more than my fair share about Vista. I am not some n00b when it comes to Beta software or any software. I have been messing with PC's for over 14years and i have a pretty good grip on what i am doing.
I know that Builds 5112, 5219, 5259, 5270, 5231, 5308, 5342, 5365, 5381.1 and 5384.4 have all leaked. Not to mention the Longhorn builds of 3683, 3718, 4008, 4015, 4029, 4051, 4053, 4074, 4083 along with the 3 new leaks of 4003, 4033, and 3706.
Just cause the builds leak doesnt mean anything. There are thousands of people that dont know how to use torrents. Just cause people get ahold of this doesnt automatically make then a n00b. there are plenty of testers out there that are no where near n00bs. That just goes to show how you think you are better then the rest for no reason.
Also yes these old builds are not as nice as the newer ones but it is still nice to see the progress they have made with the OS since its conseption for yourself instead of getting it thru other peoples opinions. That is the reason why i haev downloaded and collected all the builds for myself. I install them via VMWare or Virtual Server and see them for myself.
I have gotten almost all my builds thru M$. I did download the couple of leaked ones just to see the difference between the realeased version and the hacked up version. Aside from stability there were the same.
I also make a image of my OS partition before i setup a new build. Therefor if it is messed up all i have to do is put my image back on. No harm no foul. The leaked build of 5384.4 that i have acquired is the ISO that M$ released. Like you said if you have friends then anything is possible. Lets just say that i have made some great friends that have helped me along the way with Vista.