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Microsoft Ships Interim Test Build of Vista RC1
Partway into testing of Windows Vista Release Candidate 1, Microsoft has released an interim build of the system to be tested on the side by a subset of beta testers.
On Friday, the company released Build 5728, announcing it on the Windows Vista Team Blog.
"Today we released an interim build of Windows Vista, also known as an EDW, or External Developer Workstation...[which] serves as an update to RC1 and runs in parallel with that release," said a posting on the blog.
But while RC1, which was released in early September, is now being tested by as many as five million users, this latest side-build is going out to a much more limited audience and time has already nearly run out for those hoping for a peek.
In fact, a blog post on Tuesday warned that the company has almost reached the limit of downloads it had intended to distribute. “If you've not yet downloaded the build, I would suggest doing so today,” Tuesday's post warned.
"This build (5728) has a number of improvements and updates from RC1, but has not been put through the same internal testing process as RC1...[so] we are making this release available for a limited time only in order to get broad distribution and testing in a variety of PC configurations," Friday's blog post said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft also made available this week versions of Build 5728 that will run on 64-bit microprocessors.
Build 5728 is only available via download -- not by DVD. The company also cautioned that 5728 has some problems with Toshiba models M400, M4, and M5. Those testers should do a clean install -- not an upgrade.
Interested parties can get the downloads here.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.