Windows 7 Release Candidate leaked?

I swear it has to happen sooner or later.

The French language site Informatruc reports that the Windows 7 Release Candidate has been signed off. If your French is a little rusty, here’s the Google Translator version:

… According to various sources:

RC sign off … Build 7100.0.winmain_win7rc.090421-21 April 1700 … Bravo … already distributed to the group Gold Partners TAP, awaiting fuitage M. Green

While the side of the main branch RTM, the 7115.0.winmain.090421 Build-1650 has been compiled on the same day.

That’s exactly what I was expecting - the Release to Manufacturing builds, numbered 7101 forward, were “forked” away from the Release Candidate builds a few weeks ago.

I’ll let you know when Win7 RC is out on the newsgroups.

Windows 7 Release Candidate coming any minute now, I think

MS just posted a Partner Solutions page that says:

We are pleased to announce that Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) is available.

The link there points to the MSDN download site. If you belong to MSDN and click through, you find that Windows 7 isn’t yet available. But I’ll betcha it will be shortly.

Partners: If you have a subscription to MSDN or TechNet, you can download Windows 7 RC now. Otherwise, you can download Windows 7 RC starting May 5, 2009.

I don’t think this page was posted in error, and I don’t expect it to be retracted. We’ll see soon enough.

Busy days ahead.

Oh. I toldja so. (grin)

UPDATE: Rats! Microsoft yanked the page. The Release Candidate isn’t yet available. But I still bet we see the RC circulating this month – perhaps only leaked on the newsgroups. And I wouldn’t be one little bit surprised if the internal date for public release of the RC is May 5. Of course, that doesn’t mean MS will make the internal date…

Windows 7, Build 7068, and May

A screenshot of Windows 7 build 7068 just hit the Web and the enthusiast sites are all over it. I wouldn’t call it terribly englightening, but if you’re curious, hit this Japanese language site on the MSDN blog.

I just discovered that the pirate software sellers in Bangkok are selling build 7057. Yep, selling it. It’s a Real Big Deal.

The press has been breathless over a page that was posted a bit ahead of time that points at Microsoft releasing its Windows 7 Release Candidate to the world in May. I’m still expecting to see RC 1 on the newsgroups in April. And I’ll stick with the prediction I made six months ago that we’ll see shrinkwrapped copies of Windows 7 on store shelves around September 1.

Ed Bott has an interesting connect-the-dots post about the latest Windows 7 release date revelations. Er, non-revelations.

Windows 7 Release Candidate in late May?

I don’t think so.

Neowin reports that a Russian website says that (define “hearsay” for me, please):

# Internal RC-escrow builds of Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 will be delivered to select testers on the fourth week of April 2009

# Release candidate for Windows 7 & for Windows Server 2008 R2 will be released to the public during the last week of May 2009

Sorry, but I don’t believe it. Microsoft is getting very close, very quickly. Build 7057 – the latest leaked build – has plenty of problems with networking and lots of little gotchas. But it’s not far from RC1 status.

My guess? We’ll see a leaked RC or almost-RC before the end of this month, and an official RC in mid-April. Not late May, as the Russian site says. I still expect to see Windows 7 on store shelves well before September 1.

More documented changes for Windows 7

Microsoft just posted more details on the Engineering Windows 7 blog about changes between the beta version of Windows 7, and the anticipated Release Candidate.

Most of the changes are skin deep.

There doesn’t appear to be any mention of the change in hard disk benchmarking.