Article by George Norman

On 24 Jun 2009

The Redmond-based software developer has so far been more than generous with the Beta and the Release Candidate of Windows 7, but Microsoft will not let us download its software for free for long. The only reason why Microsoft rolled out Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 RC to the general public was so that it could put the OS to the text and gather much needed feedback. Come August 15th and you will no longer be able to get windows 7 RC from Microsoft, the company announced.

Senior Community Manager, Stephen Rose, comments: “Want to download the RC? The RC download program closes August 15. After that, you won’t be able to get the download, but you can still install the RC and get a key if you need one.” Until now Microsoft said that it will keep the RC available for download “at lest through July,” but it seems that windows 7 Release Candidate will remain available well after July ends.


For those of you still using the Beta version of Windows 7, upgrading to the Release Candidate is a definite must. There is one very simple reason why you need to do that: the expiration date of Windows 7 Beta is August 1, 2009. This means that as of July 1st, the operating system will start to shut down every couple of hours, which is a terrible nuisance.

For those of you that want to get Windows 7 Release Candidate while it is still available for download, here are some helpful details:

Windows 7 download locations
Windows 7 dedicated web page here.
TechNet dedicated web page here.
MSDN dedicated web page here.

Windows 7 RC 32-bit and 64-bit processor version activation keys
MM7DF-G8XWM-J2VRG-4M3C4-GR27X
KGMPT-GQ6XF-DM3VM-HW6PR-DX9G8
MVBCQ-B3VPW-CT369-VM9TB-YFGBP
KBHBX-GP9P3-KH4H4-HKJP4-9VYKQ
BCGX7-P3XWP-PPPCV-Q2H7C-FCGFR
RGQ3V-MCMTC-6HP8R-98CDK-VP3FM
Q3VMJ-TMJ3M-99RF9-CVPJ3-Q7VF3
6JQ32-Y9CGY-3Y986-HDQKT-BPFPG
P72QK-2Y3B8-YDHDV-29DQB-QKWWM
6F4BB-YCB3T-WK763-3P6YJ-BVH24
9JBBV-7Q7P7-CTDB7-KYBKG-X8HHC
C43GM-DWWV8-V6MGY-G834Y-Y8QH3
GPRG6-H3WBB-WJK6G-XX2C7-QGWQ9
MT39G-9HYXX-J3V3Q-RPXJB-RQ6D7
MVYTY-QP8R7-6G6WG-87MGT-CRH2P

Prepare to switch from Windows 7 RC to the final and stable version of the OS by the 1st of March, 2010 (this is when bi-hourly shutdowns will start) or by the 1st of June, 2010 (official expiration date for the RC).

UPDATE: The RC is avaialble for download through August 20th.



Tags: Microsoft, Windows 7 RC, Release Candidate

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