BrAtKoZINE

Windows 7 Build 7057, a development milestone officially labeled as Release Candidate 1, has followed earlier releases of the next iteration of the Windows client to torrent trackers. At this point in time, Windows 7 Build 7057 is up for grabs for all users with a BitTorrent client, just as the previous Win 7 Build, namely 7048, which made it out of Redmond and into the wild. However, 7057 is not served from any of the Microsoft official channels, as the software giant is keeping mum on the development and availability of the first and only RC of Windows 7.

Delivered with the following build string 7057.0.x86fre.winmain.090305-2000, Windows 7 Build 7057 was compiled on March 5, 2009, almost two months after Microsoft launched the public Beta of the operating system. During the installation process of 7057 users will be able to feast their eyes on the first mention of the RC label in relation to Windows 7. The End User License Agreement for Windows 7 Build 7057 reads: “Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System Release Candidate 1,” as you can see from the screenshots included with this article.

Torrent websites are currently offering just the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Build 7057, and the leaked release is accompanied by the following information: MD5 2a3863afe3453d1be642201fd3260ab2, CRC E34E099B, SHA1 0f32dfe92d544f4690ab91c02b59dba665d4ca0f. The Build comes to the table with an entirely new logon screen, and will permit users to run it well into 2010. The expiration deadlines associated with Windows 7 Build 7057 indicate that the development milestone could live until the end of March 2010.

There is no telling at this point in time whether or not Build 7057 is in fact the fully fledged Windows 7 Release Candidate. Microsoft is certainly hard at work cooking the RC build, which is planned for general availability in April 2009. Still, despite the EULA mention of the RC, the actual Release Candidate development milestone could have a superseding build number. Still, Windows 7 continues its evolution, with additional changes implemented on top of what the software giant integrated into 7048. Windows 7 Build 7057 features changed UAC settings, reflecting modifications promised by Microsoft a while back for the User Account Control, but also new wallpapers, new logon screen, and fresh imagery for the personalization of user accounts.