We’ve opened the gates the let the general public download the .ISO image (the DVD image) of Windows Vista Release Candidate 1.
You’ll still need a Activation Key. If you don’t already have one, they’ll be making keys openly available in a week or so from the "Get Ready" site. The Activation Key (for those that haven’t been paying attention <ahem>) determines what "edition" of the Windows Vista software installs on your PC. All the software necessary for any edition of Windows Vista is available in the .ISO image.
A few things: (Many taken from this site)
- FIREWALL… ON!
The Firewall will automatically turn on, even if you upgrade from Beta 2 and had it turned off. The firewall will always turn on automatically after installing and rebooting. - WINDOWS MEDIA DRM MAY NOT WORK
Any protected content played back on Windows Media Player after the machine is upgraded may require the patch indicated here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=47290 - EXPIRATION DATE ON BETA
The Release Candidate expires June 1, 2007. Upgrades from RC1 are not supported. - ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
Antivirus software for Windows Vista is available at theWindows Vista AV site. Right now Trend Micro’s free trial is the only posted however eTrust 7.1 by CA works – both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions. (I should know – we use both of them) - OFFICE 2007 TECH REFRESH ONLY!
Office 2007 Beta 2 by itself will not work on Windows Vista RC1. You need to download the latest Office 2007 bits if you wish to run them on Windows Vista RC1 – download them from here. - BURN DVDS AT MINIMUM SPEED
The world has discovered that burning DVD images at high speeds for booting up OS installations doesn’t always result in an accurate, readable disc. It’s encouraged that people burn their Windows Vista RC1 DVDs at 1x or 2x speeds instead of 8x or 16x speed. - 1GHZ CPU, 1.0GB SystemRAM, 128MB VideoRAM, 15GB STORAGE
These are basically the requirements for a Windows Vista machine to be run at a recommended or "premium" level. It isn’t going to work well with anything below this. Folks that try loading Windows Vista with the minimum requirements (800mhz, 512MB SystemRAM, 32MB VideoRAM) are going to be in a world of hurt so don’t bother.
Kurt Shintaku's Blog 