After several bloggers (including yours truly) reported on a news item from Softpedia about Windows 7 build 7048 1) being an actual build and 2) being labeled a release candidate, Microsoft's own Steven Sinofsky has set the record straight.

First, the current build is actually 7046 as stated in an email conversation between Sinofsky and Geeksmack. Second, as noted by one of our commenters, every build now is technically an RC since they are post-beta - since the Release Candidate is the next milestone.

Second, a date has apparently been chosen for the actual deployment of Windows 7 RC1. As long as development continues to progress the way it has, we'll see its release on April 10, 2009.

There's been understandable concern from some that Microsoft may be cutting corners in an attempt to get Windows 7 on the market as soon as possible. Let's hope that's not the case, and that the next six weeks provide the team enough time to improve upon an already good product.

[ via NeoWin ]

If you've been holding your breath waiting for Mozilla to release the final build of Firefox 3, you might want to take a break before you pass out. It looks like we're going to have at least one more release candidate before Firefox 3 final is released.

Firefox 3 RC2 will likely be released sometime in June. The update will address several dozen bugs found in Firefox 3 RC1, including one widely reported bug that can cause Firefox to essentially render some Linux systems temporarily unusable.

We won't know whether there will be a Firefox 3 RC3 until some time after RC2 is released and beta testers have had a chance to kick the tires a bit. For the most part, Firefox 3 RC1 perfectly usable. It renders many pages faster than Firefox 2, has vastly improved bookmark and add-on managers, and has a multi-purpose location bar. But if you're not the sort of person who likes to rely on beta software (or release candidate software as the case may be) for day to day usage, you may want to wait another month or two or more until Firefox 3 final is released.

[via Mozilla Links]

Mozilla has pushed out the first release candidate for Firefox 3. That means this version should be more stable than any of the betas that have been released over the last year, but there may still be some bugs to work out. If you want to be absolutely certain you won't lose settings or mess up your system somehow, you might want to hold off on downloading Firefox 3 until a final build is released. That said, we've been playing with early builds of Firefox 3 for months, and it's way faster than Firefox 2 and includes some nifty new features like improved bookmark management and a more useful location bar.

Firefox 3 RC1 looks and feels a lot like Firefox 3 beta 5, but there are a few changes:

• Changes to the JavaScript engine and optimizations for web applications like Gmail and Zoho Office
• Improvements to the user interface
• Changes and fixes for bookmark backup and restore, full page zoom, and location bar autocomplete
• Security improvements

You can check out the complete list of changes in the release notes, or you can just go ahead and download the release candidate. Firefox 3 is available for Mac, Linux, and Windows.

The countdown to Firefox 2 marches on with the release of Firefox 2 Release Candidate 2 this weekend. If you had RC1 and have automatic updates turned on, you've probably already been notified of the new version and have it installed already. If not, now's the perfect time to download RC2 from Mozilla.com. The changes in this release are almost exclusively behind-the-scenes security, performance, and stability fixes, so don't expect anything mind-boggling if you've been using RC1.

Despite its previous statements to the contrary, on Friday Microsoft will be putting out a second release candidate of Windows Vista, sort of. According to Paul Thurrott, what Microsoft is calling "RC2" is the last pre-release build that will be seen before Vista's official release to manufacturers, but isn't anything more than an ordinary interim build. Unlike RC1, RC2 won't be a public release and will only be made available to Microsoft beta testers, and MSND and TechNet subscribers. According to Thurrott, there are currently 1,400 open bugs in Vista, but they're being closed fast, and Microsoft hopes to "finalize the product" between October 25 and November 8. By my calendar that's three to five until Vista is--dare I say it--finished.

Windows Vista RC1 is available for download to the Customer Preview Program. Basically anyone who registers should be able to download Vista RC1 (build 5600). If you are wondering what is new in build 5600, I would recommend checking out Paul Thurrott's WinSuperSite review. Paul says that the latest build of Vista is much better than the beta we all downloaded mere months ago. he says that many of the annoying security and compatibility problems are gone. I am downloading the new version, mostly because I think vista has great potential. It seems to be getting there from what I can tell, but why not try it out yourself? The download is available to anyone who already signed up for the Beta 2. You should also be able to register for the customer preview program (for vista) by clicking here.

Today marked a pretty significant release for Microsoft: Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 was made available to beta testers today. To clarify, Release Candidate means candidate for release, as in, "We think this version is so good it could be the final version, but before we ship it we want to do one final bug check." And I'm tempted to accuse Microsoft of forgetting that fact (oops, I think I just did). To be more specific, Windows Vista isn't set to ship until January (albeit somewhat earlier to OEMs), but here Microsoft has a Release Candidate already. Is it possible that Microsoft is that far ahead of schedule? Well... no. It's my opinion that Microsoft is just abusing the RC1 appellation, much like some companies increment version numbers at the drop of a hat, to make users, and more importantly investors and journalists, feel like a) Vista is actually making some progress, and b) if it's already up to RC1 in September, when it's finally released in January it's bound to be amazingly polished, stable, and secure. Now, for all I know, Vista really is "almost ready" and maybe when it does ship it will be amazing polished, stable, and secure. But forgive me for harboring a few doubts. Even the announcement at the Windows Vista Team Blog seems to defy the Release Candidate label: "We're not done yet, however - quality will continue to improve. We'll keep plugging away on application compatibility, as well as fit and finish, until RTM [release to manufacturing]." Application compatibility is a good thing, but isn't that the sort of thing that should be taken care of before you start talking about releases?

Oh, well. Currently Windows Vista RC1 is only available to a closed group of testers, but it will be "made available to those of you outside those programs" soon.

Despite many technologists' belief that IE7 should undergo another beta cycle or two before it's release candidate time, this morning Microsoft released Internet Explorer Release Candidate 1. According to General Manager Dean Hachamovitch, the release "includes improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility," and apart from those users won't notice too many differences. "A release candidate is fundamentally different from a beta," says Hachamovitch, "With the exception of a very short list of issues we're aware of and working on, we think the product is done." Microsoft is soliciting user feedback on the release candidate and plans to release the final version of IE7 in Q4 of this year. Paul Thurrott has a brief review of IE7 RC1 up on his site, in which he concludes, "It's not a perfect browser, but IE 7 is hugely improved, and even in this prerelease version is worth considering." Oh, and for keyboard-centric users (like me), there's a new quick reference sheet of all of IE7's keyboard shortcut at the IEBlog.

The first release of Freespire, the community-driven (a la Red Hat's Fedora) Linux distribution from Linspire, is due in a couple of weeks, but the first release candidate is now available and DesktopLinux.com is running an early look at it, which gives a good overview of what we can expect in the new platform. Out of the box, Freespire has support for a wide variety of media formats, including proprietary ones like Windows Media, QuickTime, and Real. One of its stand-out features is the Click-and-Run (CNR) system, which lets you install a wide variety of software with one click over the internet. CNR costs $20 per year to use and includes both commercial (for which you pay) and open source software. Linspire has a modified KDE desktop which is designed to be comfortable for Windows converts. DesktopLinux.com says concludes that Freespire is "a fine Windows replacement desktop for home users," but could use better Network support. Click through for the full review.

Remember Monad, the next-generation command shell that was supposed to be part of Windows Vista? It's still not going to be part of Vista, but development continues and yesterday saw the arrival of the first release candidate. Microsoft has given it a new name, Windows PowerShell (I gotta say I liked Monad and MSH better), and given it its own web site where you can learn how to use it and even its own team blog. You can download PowerShell RC1 from the Microsoft Download Center, but you'll need to get a Passport account if you don't already have one.

[Via Slashdot]