It is widely expected that the Windows 7 Release Candidate will arrive in April, 2009, though whether the rumored April 10 date holds remains to be seen. Just over a month from now, we'll likely be playing around with the RC and wondering when the final will arrive. Despite the fact that Microsoft insists on sticking to the January 2010 timeframe, which is three years after the general availability of Vista, many sources have already pointed to an earlier release. This is not surprising whatsoever; January is not a good time to release a new product.

• ZDNet expects that the final version will be ready in July 2009 since the beta will be expiring the month after. "When the Beta expires on August 1, 2009, you’ll need to reinstall a released version of Windows to keep using your computer," according to the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview Program page on TechNet. This argument holds as long as the RC that is released in April is also set to expire in August.
• Bloomberg expects that the final version will be ready in September 2009 citing the president of Taipei-based Compal Electronics: "According to current planning, it should be late September or early October."

Full Story: Windows 7 RTM: July? August? September? October? - Ars Technica

Posted By: Slimy
07 Mar 2009