So, off I go to find the expiration date for the RC. It turns out that whenever one exists, it appears in the “About Windows” information for any Windows release. I scratch my head a bit to figure out how to do this, then run winver at the command line: it does the trick nicely.

The fine print says I have until 4/1/2010 to replace this OS.

Upon seeing the details, I heave a sigh of relief for numerous reasons. First, there’s no compelling reason to act soon, with just under 11 months to go before this OS turns into a pumpkin. Second, there’s every hope that the commercial release of Windows 7 will be out before that date (and I may even be able to perform an in-place upgrade to x64 Windows 7 Professional from this version if the stars smile on me). Third, this being a test machine after all, circumstances (read: new work) may compel me to rebuild this machine for any number of reasons well before the expiration date arrives.

All this said, however, there is a moral to this story: When MS says you shouldn’t install an RC version on production gear, they’re not kidding around. You do have to be willing to bite the bullet sometime after installing one of these versions, and replace the install with something else (that is, a so-called “clean install” that wipes out all the work involved in setting up the machine with the RC and its accoutrement) in its stead. I’m glad that my primary work on this machine consists of building various VMs to use for testing inside Virtual PC 2007. Presumably I need only copy those constituent files to a backup drive, rebuild the underlying system, then replace them in the “My Virtual Machines” folder to keep on using them no matter which version or kind of host OS is running to support them. More on this later, I’m sure…

Today's downloads are all about SP2 RC

Careful inspection of these listings, however, reveals that all of them still include the word “Beta,” even though all are indeed new files that posted yesterday. Only the DVD ISO includes a filename that specifically mentions RC2–namely, 6002.16670.090130-1715_iso_update_sp_wave0-RCSP2.0_DVD.iso.

Other downloads simply reference their associated KB articles by number, as with the IA64-based offering that appears at the top of the listing shown in the preceding screenshot–namely, Windows6.0-KB948465-IA64.exe. Here again, these articles specifically reference the SP2 beta releases, and make no mention of the Release Candidate itself.

This leads me to a couple of contemplative musings:

• If you want to see what’s in RC2, you’ll want to download and inspect the DVD ISO download
• Microsoft will probably either be issuing a clarification soon, or will replace those other downloads with RC2-labeled materials and KB articles

We’re all going to have to stay tuned to see what happens next. Very interesting! As for myself, I’m downloading the ISO image right now, and will use Daemon Tools to see what’s inside as soon as the download finishes (in 28 more minutes according to the download manager).

Important details of the RC version’s contents (and those planned for release when SP2 goes live later this year, probably in April) are spelled out in LeBlanc’s same-day posting entitled “Notable Changes in SP2 RC for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.” There’s also a TEchNet (dated 2/26/2009) document on SP2 available entitled “Hotfixes and Security Updates in Windows Server SP2 and Windows Vista SP2” as well. It’s probably worth a taking a look at these documents, but here’s my take on some highlights:

• As I mentioned in my previous blog, SP1 remains a mandatory pre-requisite for the install of SP2
• Users who wish to update to SP2 using Windows Update or Windows Software/Server Update Services (WSUS) have to patch the servicing stack to automate the SP2 install (see KB 955430 for details; the typical URL http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955430 is not yet working as I write this, however).
• Download sizes run fom 300 to 622 MB for standalone packages, and from 41-90 MB for Windows Update users (DVD info not yet available).
• Lots of interesting changes to setup and deployment, including a single installer for both Vista and Windows Server 2008, incompatible driver checks, improved error handling and messages, better logging, more secure installation, and post-release installer serviceability. As with SP1, there will also be an SP2 cleanup tool (Compcln.exe) to remove pre-SP2 files from machines, or to reduce the size of slipstream images used to install Vista and/or Windows Server 2008.

Anybody who’s interested who also has a TechNet or MSDN subscription can now sally forth and grab this beta. Because most enterprise admins have one or the other, if not both, this means you!