Pre-release Microsoft Windows 7 RC expires tomorrow

If, like us, you couldn’t wait to get your hands on the new Windows OS when the release candidate (RC) surfaced all those months ago, then you’ll have been seeing a rather annoying pop-up over the course of the last two weeks…

We actually got in on the action when the beta launched over a year ago but dutifully upgraded to the RC when it became available and over the course of the last two weeks Windows Activation reminders have been constantly popping up reminding us that;
“This pre-release version of Windows 7 Ultimate will expire in xxx days. To keep using Windows, back up your files, and then install any edition of Windows 7 Ultimate”
For people still running the RC OS, tomorrow is the beginning of the end. It was initially thought that the RC would be fully functioned until June 2010, and it will. Kind of.
From tomorrow, machines running the pre-release OS will periodically shut down every two hours, with no warning, so if you do intend to keep running it as long as you can, then you’ll want to keep on top of saving your work as you go.
This little elbow in the ribs will continue until June, at which point the release candidate software will be marked as non-genuine, and will boot your PC to a black screen telling you to install a genuine version of Microsoft Windows if you wish to continue using the OS.
To make matters a little worse, Microsoft doesn’t allow in-place upgrades from the RC to a genuine version of Windows 7. However, there is a way around this inability to upgrade, but it will only work if you want to upgrade to the Ultimate Edition as that was the build released as the RC.
If you want to know more about upgrading from the RC to a genuine copy then drop us a comment below and all will be revealed…