Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Available for Download

Posted 10/27/2010 at 8:26am | by Paul Lilly

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Here's something for all you early adopters who scoff at the notion of patience being a virtue. Provided you're rocking a legal copy of Windows 7, you can now download the operating system's first Service Pack in Release Candidate (RC) form.

Windows 7 SP1 includes both a roll-up of OS updates and several new goodies, including RemoteFX.

"Microsoft RemoteFX introduces a new set of remote user experience capabilities that enable a media-rich user environment for virtual and session-based desktops," Microsoft said in a statement. "RemoteFX can be deployed to a range of thick and thin client devices, enabling cost-effective, local-like access to graphics-intensive applications. RemoteFX also supports a broad array of USB peripherals to improve the productivity of users of virtual desktops."

Also included is Dynamic Memory, which enables servers running Hyper-V for server virtualization to make better use of memory.

Before you go and download the Release Candidate, there are some things you should know. The RC can't be installed over the beta of SP1, though you can install it on an evaluation version of Windows 7. Microsoft considers this a "high quality release," however once the final build of SP1 ships, you'll need to uninstall the RC version in order to upgrade.

Windows 7 SP1 RC FAQ
Windows 7 SP1 RC Download