14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 7 RTM is at most a month and a half away, and Microsoft is pressing onward with the development process, now in its final stage. With the Release Candidate out and about since May 5th, 2009, and offered to the public through the company's official channels, the road to RTM is nothing short of a walk in the park for the software giant. At this point in time, the Redmond company has already passed the 7200 mark with the interim build of Windows 7. Confirming this is the latest development milestone of the next iteration of Windows leaked into the wild and made available for download by prominent sources of illegal downloads including torrent trackers: Windows 7 Build 7201.
Mid-July is the period in which Windows 7 will be released to manufacturing. Following the signing-off of the code, the gold version of the operating system will ship to original equipment manufactures for pre-installation on new OEM computers, and Microsoft will also debut the production phase of the boxed copies of the platform for the retail channel. This is why the software giant regards RTM as a process rather than as a milestone. But make no mistake about it, RTM is the next stage in the evolution of Windows 7.
While, code-wise, Microsoft's efforts are bound to focus on under-the-hood details (bug fixes, compatibility, driver support), on the surface Windows 7 will remain as it is today in Builds 7100, 7137 and 7201. However, the software giant still has to officially unveil the packaging for the operating systems, although the public already got a taste of the Windows 7 boxes. In addition, details will be unveiled related to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program, which will offer customers of eligible Windows Vista new computers free upgrades to corresponding Windows 7 editions after GA. Microsoft also has to announce the Windows 7 pricing policy, a detail on which the company is still holding out.
“Windows 7 will be released in Oct [October 22, 2009] and Windows Server 2008 R2 is expected to be released at about the same time,” revealed Kevin Remde, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist. “No promises here.. but I’m hoping they release it on the very same day – like they did with the Betas and the Release Candidates. (...) I don’t think the timing [for the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program] has been officially announced, but there will likely be a day (soon) after which a purchase of Windows Vista (and likely only certain versions) will be freely upgradable to Windows 7.”
Installing Windows 7 Build 7201
Windows 7 Build 7201 has been available in the wild for a few days now, and undoubtedly some testers have jumped the gun on the RTM release and moved away from the RC of Build 7137 to the latest bits. As you can see from the screenshots below, the installation process of Build 7201 is identical to that of Build 7100 Release Candidate and to Build 7137, leaked in May, 2009. The development milestone continues to be referred to under the Release Candidate label in the End User License Agreement (EULA). And of course the Betta fish still accompanies the first Windows 7 boot and is set as the default wallpaper.
Windows 7 Build 7201 in all its splendor
There have been voices arguing for an expedition launch of Windows 7. The operating system certainly feels finished. I have been using Windows 7 since the Milestone 3 was released at PDC in 2008, and both the Beta and RC releases deliver on all aspects, from performance to stability, to hardware and drivers support and to software compatibility. Microsoft is obviously taking its time to let the ecosystem of hardware and software products around the operating system build and mature so that consumers will be able to buy both Windows 7 and Windows 7-capable and otherwise logoed offerings come October 22.
When it comes down to hardware support, Remde stated that “there are no available statistics as of yet, however 7 will retain Vista's driver model, ensuring hardware drivers written for Vista will work with the new operating system when it ships. I know also early on in the process we were required 64-bit device drivers to be signed. This was/is mandatory.”
Testers won't notice any sort of palpable changes in Build 7201 compared to previous releases. The same was the case with Build 7137. Those running Windows 7 RC Build 7100 should stick to their milestone, as Build 7201 will not offer anything on top of what there is already available. RC is after all as close to RTM as possible, with Microsoft having halted all non-essential modifications on the platform. The gold version of Windows 7 will be nothing more than RC Build 7100, but with all the rough edges softened for consumer availability.
Judging by the fate shared by all Windows 7 milestones as development progressed along, the RTM build will be leaked by the end of July 2009, especially since it will leave Microsoft and head to the company's OEM partners. In this context, early adopters will have the chance to run Windows 7 RTM months ahead of the official general availability deadline on October 22. The only problem will be missing activation keys for RTM. But in this regard, it's also traditional workarounds, bypasses, hacks and cracks that will accompany the next iteration of Windows to the market.
32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 (Release Candidate) RC Build 7100.0.090421-1700 is available for download here.
