So you’ve got yourself a Windows 7 RC (Release Candidate) that was meant for testing, and you’re laughing at your friends who actually payed for a retail version of Windows 7.  Well, your laughter may not last for much longer.  Microsoft is on to you.

Yes, that’s right.  Microsoft will start using its wiles to make your free Win7 RC a lot less user friendly.  Starting February 15th you RC users will be annoyed with constant pop-up notifications that you’re not using a legitimate copy and that you should upgrade to the real deal.  As if that’s not bad enough, then starting on March 1st your Win7 RC PC will begin shutting itself down every two hours if you still haven’t upgraded yourself a legitimate copy of Windows 7.  And then on June 1st, if you still haven’t gotten the message, your wallpaper will be removed so that, “This copy of Windows is not genuine,” can be displayed in the lower-right corner, just above the taskbar.  Whilst simultaneously any and all updates or downloads to the RC that require Windows Validation will be blocked.

Yes, that’s right Windows 7 RC users, there is to be no more free lunch.  Your test version of Windows 7 is not going to last forever.  But then, you knew that from the beginning.

And all that you have to do in order to legitimize your Windows 7 experience is upgrade.  That’s right.  You don’t even need to buy the full version.  The cheaper upgrade version is all that you should need to make your Windows 7 experience valid and stop the Microsoft harassment.