The Windows 7 release candidate will expire on June 1, 2010 and start to remind the user about that from March 1, 2010 on by automatically shutting down every two hours. This still means more than 6 months of free testing for users who download the Windows 7 release candidate.

Users who have already downloaded it (or are about to) can get Windows 7 product keys from the same website the downloads are offered. Both 32-bit and 64-bit editions are offered in English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese.

A Windows Live account is required to complete the process.

Many users are already running a beta or release candidate build of Windows 7. Some even on their main computer system as Windows 7 has proven to be very stable and reliable. These users might be interested in the following news. Microsoft is offering Windows 7 Upgrades to give users running specific Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems the opportunity to upgrade. Windows XP users will have to do a clean install but can purchase the Windows 7 Upgrade editions which are cheaper than the full retail editions.

Microsoft recently confirmed that it is also possible to upgrade a pre-RTM version of Windows 7 with a Windows 7 Upgrade edition. This means that users who are already running Windows 7 RC (or another build) can buy a Windows 7 Upgrade edition and get a full installation of Windows 7 this way.

There are some limitations on the other hand. No data will be taken over. The installation will move the old data into the folder windows.old from where the files are accessible. Most programs on the other hand will not work unless they are portable.

It also has to be noted that a clean install at a later time requires a Windows XP or Windows Vista installation (or a new installation of a pre-RTM build of Windows 7).

Users who are not intimidated by the reboot cycle will run into another problem starting August 1 where the operating system will expire completely.

Users still running the beta release of Windows 7 have the option to upgrade to the release candidate build. Microsoft has blocked a direct upgrade but that can be fixed by editing one resource file. Interested users can visit the Windows 7 Beta To RC Upgrade article over at Windows 7 News. The same technique can most likely also be used to upgrade the Windows 7 Release Candidate to the final release of the operating system.

The Windows 7 Release Candidate can still be downloaded from the official Microsoft website. Product keys are handed out as well on those pages.

The following links point directly to the release candidates at both the MSDN and Technet websites.

Technet 32-bit
Technet 64-bit
MSDN 32-bit
MSDN 64-bit

Probably even more important than the availability of the release candidate is the confirmation that Windows 7 will be released in the Holiday season by Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte. The release date was one of the best kept secrets with rumors ranging from an early 2009 to a late 2010 release. This essentially means that Microsoft will release the next Windows operating system in about six months.

The feature is called Virtual XP Mode, or XPM, and is available in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise. It requires one additional download but is completely free in those Windows 7 editions. It basically allows users to run a virtual Windows XP client on the computer system so that compatibility talks should be a thing of the past. The Windows XP applications can be displayed on the same desktop as their Windows 7 counterparts making it a one desktop solution.

The major benefit for companies is that they can now run their proprietary programs that are compatible to Windows XP on Windows 7 as well without the fear of another Windows Vista disaster which turned out not to be as compatible as advertised. The following screenshot shows two Word clients running under Windows 7. Word 2003 in Virtual XP Mode and Word 2007 in Windows 7 natively.

Paul Thurrott who broke the news about the benefits:

• Users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.
• Microsoft can claim almost complete Windows XP compatibility, or almost 100 percent compatibility with all currently running Windows applications.

That’s a pretty interesting feature for many companies that have not made up their minds yet about Windows 7. It should give them a positive boost in the pro-Windows 7 direction.

Yesterday Windows 7 Build 7100 was leaked to various P2P networks on the Internet. Build 7100 is the release candidate build of the operating system which is expected to be released to a public group of testers and enthusiasts on May 5. That’s more than ten days which seems to be to much for thousands of users who began downloading the release candidate build immediately. Both the 32-bit and the 64-bit edition have been leaked. Another surprise is that they come with an English language interface and not the usual Chinese or Russian interfaces that have been dominant in past leaks.

Additional information are scarce at this point with the exception that beta keys seem to work fine in the release candidate build as well. We will keep you updated as soon as additional information become available.

Interested users without a subscription to MSDN or Technet will have to wait until May 5 before they can download the release candidate as this is the date when it will be publicly released by Microsoft. The page containing the download link does not contain any additional information about the release candidate but the race has begun to post the first screenshots and information about the release candidate.

It is very likely that the release candidate will leak to P2P networks (most likely originating from Russia or China as the other leaks came from those countries as well) soon and that many users will start downloading the new build from there.

One of the more interesting factors is the expiry date of that version of Windows 7. It has been set to March 2, 2010 which is roughly a year from today and about 7 months after the Windows 7 beta expiration date. This could help determine the time period in which Windows 7 will most likely be released officially. Latest opinions on the matter suggest a release in the first quarter of 2010 which would be backed up by the March 2010 expiration date. The expiration date of this Windows 7 build could mean that it is the release candidate build or a build close to that.

There are not many drastic changes in comparison to Windows 7 build 7048 which has been leaked before. Microsoft has made changes to the User Account Control, the Superbar and several layout and design changes like new user icons or wallpapers.

The screenshots and information about the latest leak seem to be legit. You can get the latest information about Windows 7 in the Windows 7 Forum.

Microsoft made an announcement the other day on their Engineering Windows 7 blog which mentioned the extension of the feature uninstaller in Windows 7. The Windows Features control panel entry allows users to remove – or add – Microsoft programs and Windows components. Windows XP and Windows Vista made use of a similar but limited feature.

The release candidate of Windows 7 on the other hand provides access to additional programs and features that can be disabled or uninstalled by the user. Software that has been added are Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player, Windows Search, Microsoft .net Framework 3.5.1, the Windows Gadget platform and others. This is a major strategy change as Microsoft was previously seen as a company that never removed but always added to their operating systems.

But what does it mean to disable a feature in Windows 7?

If a feature is deselected, it is not available for use. This means the files (binaries and data) are not loaded by the operating system (for security-conscious customers) and not available to users on the computer. These same files are staged so that the features can easily be added back to the running OS without additional media. This staging is important feedback we have received from customers who definitely do not like to dig up the installation DVD.

It is interesting to note that the files will not be loaded by the operating system. Even more interesting would be benchmarks that compare operating system loading time with and without the features disabled. Security conscious users on the other hand will most likely disable many of the features even if disabling them does not provide any other advantages but to computer security.