Microsoft said they would make the Windows 7 release candidate available to the public on May 5. Well, it must be May 5 somewhere, because the public download servers are open for business.
You’ll find a single page of download instructions here, along with links to the x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) versions of Windows 7 Ultimate.
Questions? Check What you need to know about the Windows 7 Release Candidate.
Setup help? Read Windows 7 setup secrets.
Stumped? Ask away in the comments below.
Ed Bott (@ wordpress.com) 
The url does not work. when checked at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx it still says it will be available on may 5th but as of now there is no download link
The “Sample Pictures” folder in Libraries seems to reside in “Libraries\Pictures”. When I use the “open folder location” command it takes me to “C:\Users\Public\Pictures”. This implies that Libraries is just a Link to the original.
But, if I copy 600 MB of pictures from My Documents into the “Libraries\Pictures” location, I get another full set of the pictures, which means I now have have those pictures occupying 1200 MB of hard drive space.
How do I add things to a Library so it acts like a Library and not just another copied folder? I have Googled around with no real answer to this.
OOPS>>> I just answered my own question by “reading the freaking manual” in Windows 7 Help.
Click on Start, Click on my name and then do the “include in labrary” thingy.
@mgo: A library is basically just a collection of folders and files, but it is one of the coolest new features of Win7, IMHO. To add a folder to an existing library, just right-click the library in Win Explorer and choose Properties. Click the “Include a folder” button and choose the folder. The folder will now appear in the library. You can also change where files are saved by default when added to the library. Hope this helps.
I love this feature, because I usually have my media in different drives and folders. Doing this in Win7 allows me to aggregate everything in one spot.
All righty… just another learning curve experience. Got it now. Thanks for the additional tip, Nick.
You can also add a folder to a library by opening the folder and then using the Include in Library menu on the Command bar.
Two questions–
1: How can I copy the Library settings to another Windows 7 machine so I don’t have to re-do the Library on the new machine? Is there a .DLL or some other system object that I could copy over?
2: What happened to “Recent” in Documents?
Got it. Downloaded Windows 7 RC x64 and the install was quick and smooth, approx. 22 mins and a few reboots later hit the desktop. Ed, I used the windows easy transfer utility which you posted about not long ago it worked a treat. 10.5GB worth of files from a USB2.0 EX HDD came across quickly and painlessly. Your windows 7 setup secrets post had some really useful info. WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!
Anyway it feels like the Hard drive activity is much more effecient in Windows 7 than in Vista. Is this a reason that Windows 7 runs better now. I’m wondering if they added this fix in Vista SP2
I notice that when selecting show desktops gadgets in context menu the sidebar.exe process turns off. Is that new in RC i don’t think that happens in Beta build.
Hi, have not seen anyone asking about this and a search came up blank, so thought I’d ask you: Win 7 – been using it for a while now and I am/was a huge fan of Vista and not afraid to admit it! The one thing I cannot seem to get a handle on is what happens in Windows Explorer when you have navigation pane showing and also the two folder options checked: “Show all folders” and “Auto expand to current folder”
When I am copying files and doing stuff, the left pane seems to take on a life of its own and moves around, usually the “active” folder moves down to the bottom of the screen but sometimes it seem to readjust and the folder I am working on moves even further down and I have to scroll to go find it again. Amazingly irritating – is there any logic to what it is doing? I have three computers and they are all doing the same thing so I do not believe it’s just a weird thing on one of them.
Not sure I described the issue very well but hopefully enough to explain. I am just looking for some explanation so I can stop it doing it or at least change how I am using explorer.
Cheers
Derek