May 5 is the designated day where Microsoft will offer the Windows 7 Release Candidate to the general public. There are a few indicators that users will most likely experience server errors,slow download speeds and interruptions on that day. The reason for this assumption is simple. First there have been the problems when Microsoft released the Beta candidate of Windows 7. Users were not able to connect to the download servers at all for some time after the public announcement which made Microsoft extend the availability of Windows 7 Beta.
The second indicator was the release of Windows 7 RC for MSDN and Technet subscribers. They did experience server errors and slow downloads as well and it is very likely that the first 24 hours after the public release will show a similar picture. What can be done to avoid this issue? Other than being among the first users to start the download not much. A good idea would be to wait a day or two if server errors should occur during launch. The release candidate will be offered throughout May at least which should give everyone plenty of time to finish the download.
Users might consider downloading the release candidate from P2P networks instead. That’s however not a good idea because this way is not officially sanctioned by Microsoft and some releases contain malicious software.
Our suggestion: Be the first or wait. There is not really anything else that you can do.
