ComputerWorld reports that Microsoft is taking an unusual (for them) path in bringing Windows 7 to the masses. They're moving straight from the single beta release that was made available in January to a release candidate:

Although Microsoft said last year at several hardware conferences that it would jump from a public beta to a release candidate (RC), Sinofsky fleshed out the plan today and hinted that just as there would be no Beta 2, the company would also not provide a RC2 build. "At this milestone, we will be very selective about what changes we make between the Release Candidate and the final product, and very clear in communicating them. We will act on the most critical issues," he said. "The point of the Release Candidate is to make sure everyone is ready for the release and that there is time between the Release Candidate and our release to PC makers and manufacturing."

The release candidate will, like the beta, be offered to the public, Sinofsky hinted. "We expect, based on our experience with the beta, a broad set of folks to be pretty interested in trying it out," he said. While Microsoft last week extended the download deadline of Windows 7's beta by two weeks, interest in the preview was significant enough to overload the company's servers on the originally scheduled debut date of Jan. 9. Sinofsky sidestepped any discussion of a delivery date for Windows 7's release candidate, although he sounded optimistic about it. "We're on a good path and we're making progress," he said. "We are taking a quality-based approach to completing the product and won't be driven by imposed deadlines."