14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 7 Build 7068 from the Release Candidate branch features a refined installation process compared to the last development milestone of the operating system leaked into the wild, Build 7057. Refined indeed, and there are various areas across the install that have evolved past what the Beta Build 7000 flavor of the platform had to offer. The next iteration of the Windows client is coming into its own as far as the first Release Candidate of the OS is concerned, but make no mistake about it, Build 7068 is not the fully fledged RC. It is by all means a release from the RC branch, but nothing more than an interim build. Just days after the leaked information and screenshots on Windows 7 Build 7068, the public got its first taste of Build 7070, a superseding development milestone. Of course, not at the same level as 7068, the latest Windows 7 Build leaked into the wild and made available for download via torrent trackers.
The first difference users are bound to notice compared to the installation of Build 7057 is the fact that the hummingbird wallpaper is now introduced from the earliest stages of the deployment, immediately after the Starting Windows screen with the Windows logo animation. Build 7068 comes to the table with the entire span of Windows 7 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs). Users will be able to install either the Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate editions of the operating system, as you can see from the screenshots included at the bottom of this article.
As was the case with Build 7057, Windows 7 Build 7068 is labeled as Release Candidate in the End User License Agreement, a document that refers to the release as Win7_RC.1_Ult_NRL_en-US, in case users decide to move forward with the installation of the Ultimate edition. Don't let the RC1 reference fool you. There will be a single Release Candidate of Windows 7, after which the operating system will move straight into RTM (release to manufacturing).
The activation of Windows 7 Build 7068 can be performed in the same manner as previous releases of Windows 7, even leaked variants, and Beta Build 7000. In this regard, users can leverage the Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 product keys Microsoft continues to offer in order to activate the operating system. Once activated, Windows 7 Build 7068 can be used well into next year, as it comes with an expiration date set for March 2010.
Both the 32-bit and 64-bit flavors of Windows 7 Build 7068 have been leaked into the wild and are up for grabs for any user with a BitTorrent client. Microsoft continues to offer no details on the progress of interim builds of Windows 7 as the platform evolves from Beta to Release Candidate. The Redmond company only managed to confirm indirectly that the official Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) launch should be expected in May 2009.
