Possible Windows 7 RC build leaked to torrent sites, screenshots surface

If there's one thing to be learned from all the Windows 7 leaks, it's that users of Russian message boards mean what they say. Example: those same users posted just two days ago that an escrow build had been reached and that a torrent would likely be appearing on torrent trackers in a few days.

And appear it did, once again on Mininova, and it's been downloaded more than 15,000 times already. The build string doesn't match, but the Engineering 7 blog may have an explanation. In their blog post yesterday, they suggest bypassing the pre-release upgrade check by changing the MinClient build number from 7100 to 7000 if needed. That could very well mean that that build 7070 (the new leak) will simply be re-numbered as the RC.

The ISO is labeled 7077.0.090404-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRC1CULFRER_EN_DVD, a slight modification from the previously announced string (the forums had a B instead of RC). Screenshots have already appeared as well - and were first available here on this Russian site.

If this is legitimate (which it certainly seems to be at this point), then Micorosoft may well be on track to release the Windows 7 RC both internally and to key partners on April 10th as predicted. Public availability may well not come until May, though we still don't know for sure.

Tags: osupdates, windows-7, windows7