Download Windows 7 Release Candidate, for Free
Microsoft finally makes Windows 7 Release Candidate freely available for download on May 5 2009. Everyone is invited to download it, try it, test it and makes live a bit easier for the folks at Redmond.
I have to admit, I find it hard to resist the temptation to try it. Windows 7 RC is supposedly good, fast and most importantly has little problem recognizing whatever devices inside our PCs. So, with my Windows XP performance getting slower and slower, I finally convinced myself to get rid of the old bugger and replace it with this shiny, fresh-baked, albeit unfinished brand new bugger.
Requirements:
- Internet access (duh)
- A Windows’s Hotmail or Live account.
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
How to Download:
The download page is here.
Microsoft will make Windows 7 RC available at least through July 2009 and there’s no limiting of product keys, so there is no need to rush. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010 but it will begin shutting down every two hours starting on March 1, 2010.
If you’re running Windows XP or the Windows 7 Beta, you’ll need to do a clean installation of the RC. No such need for Windows Vista users, but backing up your data is always highly recommended. This is an RC, after all.
Burn the iso file (mine is 7100.0.090421-1700_x86fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culfrer_en_dvd.iso) and off we go.
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Database administrator, living in Jakarta
Thanks for the useful info. It’s so interesting