Windows 7 leaks continue!!!
March 5, 2009 – A second post-beta build of Windows 7 has leaked to file-sharing sites on the Web, according to searches at BitTorrent trackers.
A search was done on Mininova.org and they found several instances of Windows 7 Build 7048, a bootable .iso disk image of the operating system’s 64-bit edition. The last leaked build was numbered 7022, which hit BitTorrent three weeks ago. Build 7048 first appeared on Mininova on Monday.
Several users reported that they downloaded the new build but were unable to get it to work. Others confirmed that the pirated 7048 worked. Another user claimed that 7048 is not a release candidate build.
Microsoft has not given out a ship date for Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), but has acknowledged that because it will issue just the one beta, the RC will be the next public release. Windows 7′s fast development pace is in contract to its predecessors, Windows Vista, which went through multiple betas and multiple release candidates.
Mininova reported one BitTorrent had been download more than 21 000 times. That copy has since vanished from the tracking site.
Windows 7 Build 7048 has drawn attention for reasons other than leaking to the Web. A pair of bloggers reported that the build is the first that lets users remove the executable file for Internet Explorer 8. Some have wondered if the new option may be an endeavour by Microsoft to placate European Union antitrust regulators, who have accused the company of stifling competition by bundling IE with Windows and may demand that it provide users the means to eliminate IE from their PCs.
