Microsoft is inching closer to RTM; however, it is not there yet. Earlier this week, following the leak of Windows 7 Build 7600, the Redmond-based company officially commented the speculation that had been building up on a possible RTM of Windows 7 on July 13, revealing that it hadn't signed off the next iteration of the Windows client just yet. Build 6.1.7600.16384.win7_rtm.090710-1945 was already up for grabs in the wild at that time, but now there is yet another development milestone of the platform that has made it out of Redmond. Windows 7 Build 7600.16385 has been confirmed as leaked and available for download.

Sources “as usual” include illegal torrent trackers and warez websites. Both the 32-bit and the 64-bit flavors of Windows 7 Build 7600.16385 can be downloaded. The full build string of the latest leak is 6.1.7600.16385.win7_rtm.090713-1255, according to Wzor, revealing that the release was compiled on July 13, 2009. No word yet from Microsoft on what is the official build of the RTM version of Windows 7. On July 13, the software giant only noted that Windows 7 would be released to manufacturing late this month.

The x86 version of Windows 7 Build 7600.16385 is accompanied by the following information: SHA1: 326327CC2FF9F05379F5058C41BE6BC5E004BAA7. The x64 release of Windows 7 Build 7600.16385 comes with SHA1: 5395DC4B38F7BDB1E005FF414DEEDFDB16DBF610. Microsoft has warned users repeatedly not to download Windows 7 development milestones from untrusted sources, explaining that, in some cases, the bits have been confirmed as infected with malicious code.

“As always, beware of what you download. There are many bogus copies of Windows 7 floating around the Internet. More often than not, they contain a rather nice malware payload. And don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. When Windows 7 hits RTM, it will be announced here. Until that happens, any builds you are likely to see on the web are either not the final bits or are laced with malicious code,” revealed Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communications Manager on the Windows Client Communications Team.