Despite being limited to those two audiences initially, at times, it was difficult to reach the download websites due to the sheer volume of people looking to take the new Windows 7 RC for a test drive.
Yesterday came more good news for Beta testers from Redmond.
As expected, the public release of the Windows 7 RC will be on May 5 but it is VERY likely there will be 'long lines at the checkout counter' on that day with potential slow downloads for new testers (or upgrading beta testers).
In an e-mail to Beta testers and others over the weekend, Microsoft has confirmed that official copies of the Windows 7 Release Candidate will be available for download to the general public "at least until June 30, 2009".
The now official word on installation:
"IMPORTANT: If you are running Windows 7 Beta you’ll need to back up your data (preferably on an external device) and then do a clean install of the Windows 7 Release Candidate".
Finally, a reader dropped us an e-mail yesterday noting a new Windows 7 URL. You guessed it. www.windows7.com has been purchased by Microsoft and re-directs to the Windows 7 home page.
Great weekend all
Charlie
Update 5/5/2009 : Public downloads of Window 7 RC began last night and most are reporting reasonable download speeds at this time (highly dependent on location). If you are planning an unattended download, be sure and check your power settings in XP, Vista or Windows 7 Beta. The download will not stop your computer from going into hybernation or shutting down automatically.
Details on changes in the RC can now be found at the Windows website here.
Update 5/6/2009 : Most are reporting no problems with the download servers as of today. In addition, those that are using it are commenting that for the most part a clean install on a machine that meets the system resources are just requiring 1 or 2 driver downloads. My own take ... The new themes are AWESOME!
More on the Windows 7 release candidate later in the week. (I'm still a PC :)