Microsoft is moving forward with the development of Windows 7. Following the public availability of Release Candidate Build 7100, the software giant confirmed that RTM would be the next stage in the evolution of the next iteration of the Windows client. However, just as it was the case for the transition from Beta Build 7000 to RC Build 7100, Microsoft is not sharing details with the public on the interim builds that it is delivering on the way to RTM. But make no mistake about it, the software giant is indeed delivering interim builds of Windows 7, just to have them leak into the wild, as it has now become traditional. The latest development milestone to be leaked to BitTorrent websites and other illegal third-party sources is Windows 7 pre-RTM Build 7137.

Both the 32-bit and the 64-bit flavors of Windows 7 Build 7137 have made it into the wild, according to downloads available to all users with a BitTorrent client looking to risk infecting their computer with malicious code just to grab the latest bits of the platform available. The full Build number of the latest interim milestone of Windows 7 is 7137.0.090521-1745. The numbers indicate that the build was compiled on May 21st. Windows 7 Build 7137 is scheduled to start the bi-hourly shutdowns on March 1st, 2010, and to expire in on June 1st, just like the Release Candidate build.

Windows 7 RC Build 7100 was delivered to the public on May 5th, 2009. The downloads continue to be live even at this point in time, and it is advisable that users stick with Windows 7 releases from the Microsoft official channel. This especially since leaked copies of Windows 7 have been confirmed as being infected with malicious code. In mid-May 2009, Windows 7 Build 7127 was leaked, marking another step to RTM.

The x86 (32-bit) variant of Windows 7 Build 7137 comes with the following information: MD5: 2f7520915dff55380e979e67ae4687db; SHA1: ff9c8751095e77be0fd4a0a0a937e3eab0c18943 and CRC32: 3d4eef0c. At the same time, the x64 (64-bit) Windows 7 Build 7137 is accompanied by this data: MD5: 0d863472414efc337d032e8ed33c347b; SHA1: 8e35d15281a554fd890ad682249e485b9b82278c; and CRC32: 06047573. Microsoft has failed to, in any way, provide updates as to just how far along in the development of the RTM (release to manufacturing) edition of Windows 7 it is.

32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 (Release Candidate) RC Build 7100.0.090421-1700 is available for download here.