Windows 7 RTM Not Yet Released, But Will be Soon

Last Monday, we posted about a potential release date for the Windows 7 RTM, which was effectively yesterday, the 13th. That date came and went, however, and no RTM saw the light of day. Of course, it’s hard to say that Microsoft missed the date, because not once did they even claim that to be date to begin with. So when is it going to come out? Apparently, soon. Very soon.

According to the official blog, the RTM will see a release sometime this month, and given that we’re half-way through as it stands, it’s not going to be much longer. Unless you are a huge fan of downloading leaked copies, though, you’re likely going to have to wait until the actual final copy is released to the general public, slated for October 22.

In the same blog post, it’s mentioned that MSDN & TechNet subscribers will be able to download the RTM a few weeks after it’s announced (which leads us to believe that no one will be able to use it until early next month at least), while Volume License customers will be able to access it at the beginning of September. For the rest of us, we wait. And if you are one of the rabid fans who can’t wait, be careful where and what you download. There are many people preying on your lack of patience!

Another thing to keep in mind is that when we do a specific build internally of Windows 7 we have an extensive step-by-step validation process to ensure quality. This process takes time. Just because a single build may have “leaked” it does not signal the completion of a milestone such as RTM. As always, don’t believe everything that you read on the Internet – except this post ;-).