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Windows 7 fans hold hands out for Halloween service pack fun

SP1 RC a trick or treat? How much time you got?

Windows fans at a loss for what to do over the Halloween weekend can indulge themselves with the first release candidate of the Windows 7 service pack.

Not that we're suggesting the RC is some kind of horror fest - although installation times appear to be a tad longer than some fans anticipated.

Microsoft slipped out SP1 RC1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 earlier this week.

The final versions are due early next year, when Microsoft will no doubt be hoping that big business will finally take the plunge and buy into Windows 7.

Anyone wanting to exploit the pack will need to ensure they have an official copy of the OS, and aren't lingering on one of the beta versions Microsoft threw out like candy ahead of launch.

Also, anyone running the beta of SP1 will have to uninstall that before they try RC1, a process that isn't necessarily straightforward.

The main grumble cropping up in Microsoft's forums is that the installation is simply taking a while.

One solution, it seems, is to repeat the process on beefier kit.

Still, time is on your side - the installation is good till November 2011. But by then, the final version will have hit. Won't it?

And, just as a reminder, you'll need at least a 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, or 2GB if you're looking to go 64-bit. ®

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