Get ready to access the third wave of Windows 7 RTM downloads from Microsoft. Today, August 21, 2009, the Redmond company will make available for download Windows 7 RTM wave 3 for its developer and IT professional audiences, through their respective portals. MSDN and TechNet subscribers will be able to download all Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 releases. Starting today, MSDN and TechNet will feature for download Windows 7 RTM in retail and volume license editions, as well as the language packs, localized versions and checked builds. In addition, Microsoft is offering the Windows 7 RTM software development kit (SDK), Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK), Windows Driver Kit (WDK), and Windows 7 RTM Symbols.

According to Nitin Saxena, senior product manager, TechNet Plus, Microsoft will offer all the “remaining Windows 7 Client and Windows Server 2008 R2 Editions” on top of the Wave 1 and Wave 2 of downloads. Wave 3 will make available Windows 7 client and server in “the following languages, released as they become available (likely order) – Dutch, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian, Polish, Korean, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan), Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong – SAR), Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Ukrainian, Thai, Romanian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Estonian, Croatian, Serbian Latin, Latvian, Slovenian,” Saxena notes.

In addition, the Redmond company will also go live with all the localized flavors of the Windows 7 Starter Edition. Wave 3 brings to the table the last releases of Windows 7 RTM, on top of the initial English builds delivered on August 6th and the French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese flavors that went live on August 14th.

The Windows 7 RTM wave 3 downloads come just one day after the discontinuation deadline for the availability of the Release Candidate Build 7100 of the operating system. “For customers who continue to use the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) release, license expiration messages will begin on Feb 14, 2010 and it will time-bomb (shutdown every 2 hours) starting March 1, 2010,” Saxena adds. Windows 7 RC will expire completely on June 1st, 2010.