After the abysmal failure of Windows Vista in the business market, Microsoft is hoping to regain customer loyalties with the pending release of Windows 7.

In an attempt to jump-start some buzz about the Windows 7 release this holiday season, Microsoft is offering Windows 7 RC (build 7100) as a free download from Microsoft.com. Once you have registered and chosen your flavor (32-bit or 64-bit) you will be given a free serial number to activate your copy of Windows 7 RC. This serial number will be good for 1 full year! In March of 2010 your computer will shut down after 2 hours of use (you will receive a warning about this 2 weeks ahead of time). And in June of 2010 your computer will cease to boot without first purchasing a release copy of Windows 7 or reinstalling your older OS.

I myself have been using Windows 7 RC for a few weeks now and couldn’t be more pleased.