Microsoft Names Windows 7 Rc1 Dates

[Peaches]

Microsoft names Windows 7 RC1 dates

Two-week wave

By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco

Stable and completed code for Windows 7 will be released to early adopters during the coming week, with mass availability planned for the following Tuesday.

The eagerly awaited Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 will be posted to members of Microsoft's Developer Network and TechNet for download on April 30. RC1 will be made generally available on May 5, Microsoft said late Friday.

Microsoft confirmed the dates after the RC leaked to four torrent sites, causing excitement and frustration that Microsoft didn't appear to be offering a date for release.

This is expected to be the last code cut before Windows 7 is delivered as final product, unless major bugs or faults are uncovered. Microsoft pointedly did not give a date for Windows 7's release to manufacturing when it announced the RC and has been clinging to a 2010 time frame.

The Register - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/26/wi...ease_candidate/

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[Peaches]

[b]Windows 7 gets virtual 'XP mode'

Microsoft says beta of backward compatibility add-on available 'soon'

By Gregg Keizer

April 25, 2009 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp. will unveil an add-on to Windows 7 that lets users run applications designed for Windows XP in a virtual machine, the company confirmed Friday -- the first time Microsoft has relied on virtualization to provide backward compatibility.

Dubbed "Windows XP Mode," the add-on creates an XP virtual environment running under Virtual PC, Microsoft's client virtualization technology, within Windows 7, said Scott Woodgate, the director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy.

In a post to a company blog, Woodgate said the add-on is part of the pitch to convince businesses to migrate to Windows 7. "All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode," said Woodgate. "The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7."

http://www.computerworld.com/action/articl...ticleId=9132119

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