Get Windows Vista RC1

Want to try out the first Windows Vista release candidate? Microsoft today made the late beta version of its next-generation OS, which was completed earlier this month, available to people who don't already have access to it (for example, members of the Microsoft Developers Network, TechNet, or the Customer Preview Program (CPP) that made Beta 2 of the OS available to more than a million people).

Just head to Microsoft's Windows Vista web site, click on "Get Windows Vista RC1" and you can sign up for the CPP (which stopped accepting new participants subsequent to the Beta 2 release but is now taking them again). Note that you'll have to register with Windows Live (which requires providing an e-mail address--I use my old HotMail address).

You can get RC1 either as a download (3GB for the 32-bit version, 4GB for the 64-bit version) or on DVD. If you choose to get a DVD, you'll have to pay Microsoft for shipping and handling, but the fees aren't too bad: $3.00 for the U.S. or $3.50 (Canadian) for Canada.

Before you accept Microsoft's offer, I'd recommend reading over the caveats on the download site very carefully. Among other things, Microsoft points out that RC1 will expire on June 1 of next year, at which time you'll either have to buy and install the shipping version of Vista or reinstall an older version of Windows. In other words (and Microsoft has this part in bold face), "you cannot roll back to the previous operating system installation." Also take note of what you will have to pay to upgrade to a shipping version.

Also pay attention to system requirements and, if you're thinking of installing it on the PC you use for your work (as I did), do some research on whether your mission-critical applications have known issues with Vista. I still can't run Rhapsody, Photoshop Elements 4, or my Palm Desktop software. If you're interested, here's more about my RC1 experiences.

As it did with Beta 2, Microsoft says the CPP will only accept a certain unspecified number of new signups. But Microsoft has also said it expects some 5 million people to try out RC1, including a significant number who will get the DVD bundled with magazines on newsstands. I suspect if you really want to check out Windows Vista, you'll find a way to get it.