Microsoft have officially confirmed that May 5 is the official public release date for the Windows 7 Release Candidate.

“I’m pleased to share that the RC is on track for April 30th for download by MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Broader, public availability will begin on May 5th,” wrote Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc in a corporate blog.

This follows news of a possible Windows XP virtualisation mode which allows Windows 7 to run older software that doesn’t work on Vista or Windows 7 natively. The “WinXP mode” has not been confirmed yet by Microsoft, so consider it a rumour at this stage.