Download Free Windows 7 Alongside XP and Vista

There are plenty of free Windows downloads to go around from Microsoft, with the company offering copies of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP to users without requiring a single cent in return. The past weekend I told you that the software giant has posted refreshed versions of its new XP and Vista free downloads packaged as virtual images, in essence VHD files designed to be run on top of Windows Virtual PC.

But while these specific releases of Vista and XP can only be leveraged as guest operating systems in virtual machines, Microsoft is also providing Windows 7 for clean install and upgrade scenarios involving physical machines.

The IE Application Compatibility VPC of XP and Vista “images are specifically designed to run on Microsoft Virtual PC, and may or may not work in other hosting environments.

“In other hosting environments, you may be required to activate the OS as the product key has been deactivated. This is the expected behavior. The VHDs will not pass genuine validation,” Microsoft warned.

The Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial is less limited, albeit also time-bombed, just as it is the case for the IE Application Compatibility VHDs.

As the official label implies, the trial version of Windows 7, which continued to be available for download free of charge even at this point in time, will expire after some three months of usage.

Although the release is intended to help IT professionals start testing and planning for the migration to Windows 7, downloads of free Windows 7 trial copies are not limited in any way to just TechNet subscribers.

Microsoft plans to continue serving free Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial downloads at least until April 29, 2011.

The company has already said that the quantity of free trial Windows 7 downloads is limited and that the offering will only be kept alive while supplies last, but it appears that supplies have lasted for over a year.

Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-Day Evaluation is available for download here.