MS to let Windows 7 RC last until June 2010
updated 09:35 am EDT, Fri May 1, 2009
Win 7 RC Until June 2010
Microsoft with the release of the Windows 7 Release Candidate has acknowledged that the test version will last until June 1st 2010 in a bid to attract users to the finished, paid version. The time span is much longer for the Windows 7 beta, which expires in August, and is uncharacteristically long for any Windows release candidate. The company's Windows Client Group head John Curran doesn't specifically justify the extension to PC Pro but does say he encourages a wide range of technology enthusiasts, though not necessarily the general public.
"It's available to as many people who see fit to use it, although we wouldn't recommend it to just your average user," he says.
Curran still maintains the official stance that Windows 7 will ship in early 2010, though Acer recently contradicted the company by revealing that it will have Windows 7 on October 23rd, or several months before the release candidate expires. Microsoft historically cuts off usage of pre-release versions shortly before or after the launch to get customers and developers on to final, purchasable code as quickly as possible.
The extension is effectively an olive branch to companies and dedicated users that have been hesitant to adopt Windows Vista, giving them more time to try the operating system and potentially accept it before being asked to either upgrade Windows 7 or erase it. Active resistance from businesses and a cooler than previous reception among the general public have both contributed to rare drop in quarterly revenue for Microsoft in its most recent quarter.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Quite a leap
the test version will last until June 1st 2010 in a bid to attract users to the finished, paid version.
That's quite a leap in logic. Besides the fact that the MS guy never said this, there's just one other problem: they released the Windows 7 RC to MSDN and Technet subscribers.
If you already subscribe to either of that (which is expensive), you're more than likely going to get a version of the software when it is released, and you're more than likely to actually use it.
And, beyond all that, even if this prods them to use it, they'll get the official copy as part of their subscriptions. So they won't even gain a sale.
To lure others would be to make it a public RC, which they didn't do.