Windows 7 Build 6956 is the latest copy of Windows Vista's successor leaked and available for download via various third-party sources, including popular torrent websites. With Microsoft taking its Windows 7 road show, not only outside of Redmond, but also outside of the U.S., more leaked copies of the next iteration of the Windows client were bound to follow Build 6801. In this regard, Windows 7 Build 6956 comes all the way from China, where the Redmond company showcased Builds of the operating system, more advanced in terms of the development process compared to what it offered just over a month ago.

At the end of October and in early November, via the Professional Developers Conference 2008 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference 2008 in Los Angeles, Microsoft made available the first taste of Windows 7. Build 6801, a pre-Beta release also labeled Milestone 3, was delivered in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors to attendees of PDC and WinHEC. However, during both events Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 pre-Beta builds, which broke the 69xx milestone.

Moving onward to Windows hardware Engineering Conference 2008 in China, the software giant is all the way up to Build 6956. The WinHEC 2008 China release of Windows 7 is much closer to the fully-fledged Beta of the operating system, according to Microsoft's official plans, but still a pre-Beta build.

However, moving from Build 6801 to Build 6956, the Redmond company has “set free” some of the features that were demonstrated at PDC 2008 and WinHEC 2008, but blocked in the releases handed out. In this context, according to Windows 7 Center, Windows 7 Build 6956 comes to the table with Aero Peek, Desktop Slideshows, and evolved Start Menu and Taskbar.

Initially, just the VHD (virtual hard disk) of Windows 7 Build 6956 was leaked. The VHD was designed to integrate with virtualization solutions from Microsoft, including Virtual PC, Virtual Server and Hyper-V. However, following the VHD, the actual ISO containing the Windows 7 Build 6956 bits was also made available for download. At this point in time, just the 32-bit versions of Windows 7 Build 5965 are up for grabs in the wild, with no 64-bit variant leaked. Microsoft is currently laboring to produce the first Beta of Windows 7 at the start of 2009.