Make no mistake about it, Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 for Windows 7 is already live, just as is the RC build of the browser for Windows Vista RTM and SP1, Windows XP SP3 and earlier, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003. However, unlike the IE8 RC1 bits Microsoft is offering for previous releases of the Windows operating system, the Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 version for Windows 7 is not, and will not be made available for download. This because Windows 7 comes with Internet Explorer 8 as a default component. Windows 7 Build 7025, which comes with IE8 RC1 according to the leaked information available on the version, is illustrative in this regard.

“The IE8 Release Candidate is for Windows Vista, XP, and Server only; Windows 7 users will get an updated IE8 with the next update of Windows 7,” Dean Hachamovitch, IE general manager, revealed. As you can see, Hachamovitch carefully avoided the words Windows 7 Release Candidate, or any mention of the Build number for the next update of Win 7. And he's not the only one.

“If you are running Windows 7 Beta, you will not be able to install IE8 RC1. You will get an error message saying that your operating system is not supported since IE8 already ships in Win7. The IE8 RC1 available from Microsoft Download Center is a standalone upgrade for downlevel version of the OS only: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 and Window Server 2003,” Jane Maliouta, IE program manager, said.

On January 21, 2009, 11 days after Microsoft made available the public downloads of Windows 7 Beta Build 7000, Frank Olivier, IE UX and Compatibility PM, indicated that the “version of IE8 in Windows 7 Beta is somewhat older than the Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate (IE8 RC1).” Olivier also pointed out that Microsoft had already fixed issues in the Beta 2 release of IE7's successor in Internet Explorer 8 RC1, but also in the “most recent internal Win7 build.”

On January 21, 2009, the most recent internal build of Windows 7 was from the Release Candidate branch of the operating system. Windows 7 Build 7025 is part of the RC build, and, as you can see from the screenshot included within this article, it comes with Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1. Windows 7 users will only be able to test IE8 RC1 running on the operating system via future RC Build 70XX releases.

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is available for download here.