The free Windows 7 ride is now truly and indisputably over! And, if you have failed to get on board this far, chances that you’ll be able to do so moving onward are very slim. On August 20th, 2009 Microsoft discontinued the free downloads of Windows 7 Release Candidate Build 7100. Microsoft was serving the free RC bits of Windows 7 through Microsoft.com, as well as TechNet- and MSDN-dedicated webpages, none of which continues to serve Windows 7 RC at this point in time, as the Redmond company announced months ago.

The only good news is that Microsoft will continue to offer testers activation product keys for Windows 7 RC Build 7100. According to the company’s current plans, RC keys will be available to early adopters until a day ahead of the Windows 7 General Availability deadline, which is set for October 22nd, 2009.

“Sorry, the Windows 7 RC is no longer available for download. If you’ve got the download and need a product key, they’ll be available until October 21, 2009,” a message posted by Microsoft on the Get Windows 7 RC page reads. “To look up your product key or get a new one, just go through the steps like you're starting a download. Go to the bottom of this page, pick your version and language, and click go. From there, sign in with your Windows Live ID, and your product key will appear on the next page.”

Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22nd, 2009, offered almost immediately to OEMs, and to MSDN and TechNet subscribers on August 6th, 2009. Users that managed to grab Windows 7 RC and that will activate it with a product key from Microsoft will be able to run the operating system until no later than mid-2010.

“Please plan ahead for when the RC expires. You'll get two weeks' notice, and then beginning on March 1, 2010, your PC will start shutting down every two hours. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. To avoid interruption, you'll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS with a valid version of Windows, and reinstall all your programs and data before the software expires,” Microsoft reveals.

Just to make your life easier, here are the 32-bit and 64-bit activation product keys for Windows 7 RC:

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