Windows 7 Release Candidate has been rolled out today to MSDN and TechNet professionals. With this roll-out comes some surprising news that it will come with just over a years worth of free licence. The RC version of Windows 7 will not expire until 1 June 2010 which is a huge trial period for an operating system.
If you are not an MSDN or TechNet user then you will need to wait till May 5th to get your hands on the download. The Windows 7 OS will be available to download right up until it is released to manufacturing… so get it quick as it sure does beat the usual 30 day trials that are more common place.
The reason why the trial lasts so long is because it’s Microsofts way of thanking users for feedback, and it helps users to make a more informed decision as to when and if they will buy the Windows 7 operating system. Unfortunately there will be no upgrade path from XP though as the new and old OS’s are just far too different in the way they work. But, if your on XP then it might be a good idea to do a fresh install anyway ;) As well as no upgrade path from XP to Win 7, there will also be no upgrade path from RC to full version or from Beta to RC.
Interestingly, Curran was more ambiguous when I put it to him that as a gesture of good faith Microsoft should give short changed Vista Ultimate owners either a major discount or free upgrade to Windows 7. For me the lost revenue would be more than made up by the good PR, but perhaps that’s me just being optimistic.