Engineering Windows 7: Our Next Engineering Milestone

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This is a very good read over at E7 blog. It lays out just what to expect in the coming months with Windows 7. As many have speculated there will only be one official beta release, build 7000, which was available to everyone on Jan. 7. The next release of Windows 7 will be the release candidate (RC). Then on to RTM. Speculation is Windows 7 RC will be available in the middle of April.

Here is an excerpt of the blog post.

This post is about the path from where we are today, Beta, to our RTM (Release To Manufacturing), building on the discussion of this topic that started at the PDC. This post is in no way an announcement of a ship date, change in plans, or change in our previously described process, but rather it provides additional detail and a forward looking view of the path to RTM and General Availability. The motivation for this, in addition to the high level of interest in Windows 7, is that we’re now seeing how releasing Windows is not something that Microsoft does “solo”, but rather is something that we do as one part of the overall PC ecosystem. Obviously we have a big responsibility to do our part, one we take very seriously of course. The last stages of a Windows release are a partnership across the entire ecosystem working to make sure that the incredible variety of choices you have for PCs, software, and peripherals work together to bring you a complete and satisfying Windows 7 experience.

You can read the full post at Engineering Windows 7 Blog.