Free Windows 7 Release Candidate download will end shortly
![W7banner_thumb[2]](http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/ukschools/WindowsLiveWriter/FreeWindows7ReleaseCandidatedownloadwill_8282/W7banner_thumb%5B2%5D_thumb.jpg "W7banner_thumb[2]")
This isn’t specific to schools, but as it hasn’t got much coverage worldwide, I thought it worth a mention. If you’re thinking of experimenting with Windows 7 in the summer holidays – eg testing some of your old educational software using the XP compatibility mode – then you may want to know that the free download of the Windows 7 Release Candidate will end on 15th August.
The Release Candidate (RC) is our last public release before Windows 7 is finalised and actually released as a full product. The RC version is free to use until Spring next year, and although the download won’t be available after 15th August, you can run it right up until March 2010 without interruptions.
Visit the download site to get a copy and a licence key
It’s handy if you want to install a copy for:
- Testing software compatibility
- Seeing whether it runs on old cronky hardware (see this if you want an idea)
- Running on one of your non-mission-critical computers whilst waiting for the final release
