Microsoft has recently unveiled the release candidate for the next iteration of Windows, Windows 7. To celebrate, Microsoft has provided an unusual offering – the RC build is available as a fully functional and free download from their website. Further, the complete OS remains valid until March 2010 – resulting in almost a free full year of their latest offering.

If you are the adventurous type and can put up with a few bugs – it’s not the final code just yet – you likely won’t be disappointed with this release. However, before taking the plunge you might want to ensure your system is compatible, both in hardware and software. Like in the months leading up to Vista’s release, Microsoft has again provide a free tool that can assess your current setup and help identify potential problem points; the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is available off their website.

The scanning utility is extremely straightforward and easy to use. Launch the program with all your devices attached, including printers, scanners, or anything of that nature. The Upgrade Advisor will initiate a sequence of scans and tests before summarizing the results in a compatibility report. If you are already running Vista you likely will not hit any trouble as, at the core, Windows 7 is very similar to Vista. The advisor is more appropriate for earlier releases of Windows, namely XP.