Microsoft has confirmed that it will not be releasing any more beta versions of Windows 7, with the next release likely to be the first release candidate of the eagerly anticipated operating system.

The successor to Vista has been very well received since it arrived in beta, which will come as an almighty relief to Microsoft after the failure of Vista to hit the heights that were expected for it.

"There's been such an incredible response, with many folks even blogging about how they have moved to using Windows 7 Beta on all their machines and have been super happy," said Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky on the Engineering Windows 7 blog.

"The question we get most often is 'if the Beta expires in August what will I do - I don't want to return to my old operating system.' For a Beta release, that is quite a compliment and we're very appreciative of such a kind response."

Beta refreshed

Although, Sinofsky is coy over the date for RC1 of Windows 7, he did confirm that it would serve as a refresh to the beta, adding: "We often 'joke' that this is the point of lowest productivity for the development team because we all come to work focused on the product but we write almost no code.

"That's the way it has to be - the ship is on the launch pad and all the tools are put away in the toolbox to be used only in case of the most critical issues."

The release candidate step is a key moment in the life of software, coming before a release to manufacturing and finally general release.

In time for 2009?

Microsoft has never shifted from its assertion that the release of Windows 7 is 'on schedule' meaning that it will hit shelves either at the very end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, but the quicker the release candidate arrives the more likely the earlier date is.

"We're on a good path and we're making progress," Sinofsky insists. "We are taking a quality-based approach to completing the product and won't be driven by imposed deadlines.

"We have internal metrics and milestones and our partners continue to get builds routinely so even when we reach RC, we are doing so together as partners."