Thank you for participating in the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program. Customer feedback is an integral part of our development process and your continued support is very important to help us improve the overall quality of Windows Vista.

This email is to inform you that the final major pre-release of Windows Vista - Release Candidate 1 (RC1) - is now available for download for CPP participants. Please use the links below to access the download site, and install this release as soon as possible. (If you ordered a DVD kit for Beta 2 you will receive a new DVD kit containing RC1 in approximately 2-4 weeks.)

Important Information about Windows Vista RC1 . We remind you that RC1 is pre-release software and you should not run this on production or mission-critical PCs. Support will be limited to newsgroups, and you may have to do a clean install to move from this release to the final release of Windows Vista.

. You may upgrade an existing installation of Windows Vista Beta 2 or Windows XP to this release. However you will have to do a clean install if you want to get back to a previous configuration.

. Before upgrading from Beta 2 to RC1, please install any Critical Updates from Windows Update for Beta 2. Go to Start, All Programs, Windows Update, and click the "Check for Updates" button.

. Please close any open applications before beginning an upgrade. During installation we recommend you have an active Internet connection and choose to "Go online to get the latest updates for installation."

. Installing RC1 requires a valid Microsoft Product Key. You should use the same Product Key that was provided to you (and sent in email) when you registered for Beta 2 in June.