Windows 7 Release Candidate
Windows 7 RC build 7100.0.090421-1700 Screenshots
25 April 2009 by Jean De Daumier-SmithI did not take too long for Windows 7 Release Candidate to appear in public. Both builds for 32 and 64 bits are available in torrents and hyper file holders like Rapidshare. Here's the file name for x86 version:
7100.0.090421-1700_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRC1CULFRER_EN_DVD.iso
I think Microsoft will be glad to mitigate download impact on their servers coming on 5th of May when Windows 7 RC is available to anyone. If, of course, build 7100 is the true Release Candidate.
New Taskbar options
What I like in this build is that the navigation issue I mentioned in my previous article seems to be soften in default setup [screenshot] In the taskbar properties select "Always combine, hide labels" for taskbar buttons. Having said that I see another issue here: How are you going to separate active windows labels and simply taskbar icons? It is not badly confusing, but still.
I run Windows 7 RC 32-bit in Sun VirtualBox version 2.2.0, (that's why the screenshots lack 32-bit color). I recommend this lightweight and free tool to everyone. I used to like VMWare, but the virtual machine from Sun is much more intuitive.
Here's some screenshots of Windows 7 build 7100, click to enlarge:
