Microsoft makes headway with the development process of Windows 7 builds out of the Release Candidate branch. Having wrapped up with Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 since December 2009, the Redmond company moved onward and started producing 70XX builds, signaling that it is indeed ready to move straight from beta to RC, as Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, announced in October 2008. In this context, the company has now passed the Build 7032 milestone for Windows 7 (6.1.7032.0.winmain.090129-1812), with the release already leaked in the wild. Microsoft did place consistent emphasis on closely collaborating with partners and a select pool of testers for the development of Windows 7, and although Build 7032 from the Release Candidate branch was not, and probably will not be served to the general public, it has already been released outside of Redmond.

Despite the leak, the actual bits for Windows 7 Build 7032 are not available for download. WinFuture managed to give out just a taste of the latest development milestone for Windows 7 via a selection of screenshots. What is interesting to note is that Windows 7 Build 7032 is the first release of the next iteration of Windows in the Enterprise flavor on which information is available to the general public. Microsoft has so far focused its testing efforts on Windows 7 Ultimate and Home Premium SKUs of the operating system.

As it moves onward with the development of Windows 7 Release Candidate, Microsoft is bound to start testing all the editions of the next version of Windows, including Starter, Home Basic, and Professional. Windows 7 Enterprise is the equivalent, in terms of the feature package of Windows 7 Ultimate, with only volume licensing and retail licensing acting out as the differentiator. In order to get an idea of what Windows 7 Enterprise has to offer, users need only to turn to the Ultimate SKU. Microsoft started offering Windows 7 Ultimate Beta Build 7000 to the general public starting on January 10, 2008.

At the same time, following Build 7000, Microsoft also released Windows 7 Build 7022 from the RC branch. Just like 7032, Build 7022 was also leaked in the wild, but this time around, the actual bits are available for download via BitTorrent websites. Users need to understand that, as of Beta Build 7000, Windows 7 is feature complete. However, the Redmond company is indeed tweaking Windows 7 as it is getting closer to RC. Windows 7 Build 7032 features Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate (RC) just as version 7022, but also a new Home Group icon, and a couple of new themes namely Architectures and Characters. Microsoft has yet to reveal when it will launch Windows 7 RC, although speculations point to April 2009, with the RTM deadline reportedly set for October.