MSDN and TechNet get Windows 7 RC? Public to wait till May 5

According to a page on the Microsoft Partner Program website, Microsoft is planning to give its partners the Windows 7 Release Candidate via both TechNet and MSDN. The page says the build is available “now,” though as of publishing time, a quick check on TechNet and MSDN shows that it’s not yet available there (only the beta is), nor is it available on Microsoft Connect.

Most likely this is just another slip up, like last month when it was revealed that Microsoft plans to give out the RC in May, so MSDN and TechNet subscribers will not be getting the RC anytime soon. However, today’s information is more specific than the previous leak: May 5 looks like the date for the public release of Windows 7 RC.

I’ve included the text of the page below, as well as a screenshot to back it up.

As the next-generation operating system from Microsoft, Windows 7 opens new development, sales, and services opportunities for your business. With Windows 7, you can offer your customers a robust foundation for high-quality experiences across applications, services, PCs, and devices. We are pleased to announce that Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) is available. Windows 7 RC is the prerelease version of Windows 7. Since this is not the final release, your PC will gather and send information to Microsoft engineers to help them check the fixes and changes made based on testing of Windows 7 Beta. Test-drive Windows 7 RC today to see for yourself—and to show your colleagues and customers—how Windows 7 delivers improved management, security, reliability, and performance. Download Windows 7 RC Partners: If you have a subscription to MSDN or TechNet, you can download Windows 7 RC now. Otherwise, you can download Windows 7 RC starting May 5, 2009.

Update

It looks like my original guess was correct: MSDN and TechNet subscribers will not be getting access soon. A few faithful readers got this quote from the Microsoft Online Concierge Chat: “Currently the Windows 7 RC has not been avaiable through the TechNet subscription yet, only the Microsoft OEM partners such as Dell, Siemens are taking part in the RC’s this period of test.” This matches what I’ve heard from other sources (also why I originally put a question mark in the title), so despite the grammar mistake, I believe this information is correct.