After Microsoft's accidentally-published, premature Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) page on its TechNet's Web site was noticed by Ars Technica on Thursday, the software giant replaced the page saying that Windows 7 Beta downloads were not available.

In its statement, Microsoft said: "The Windows 7 Release Candidate download page posted on TechNet as part of the regular testing of Microsoft properties and was removed as the Windows 7 RC is not available at this time."

Though a Microsoft spokesperson informed Channelweb. com that the company has not worked out a launch date for the Windows 7 RC - which is the company's next step in the direction of the launch of its operating system - there are rumors abound that RC had been slated for an April launch.

However, according to Ars Technica, which managed screen shots of the landing page, Microsoft had mentioned a May 2009 timeframe for the launch of the next version of its operating system Windows 7.

The screen shot noted the basic minimum PC requirements as 1 GHz 32-bit, 64-bit or higher processor; 1 GB of system memory or more; 16 GB of available disk space; support for DirectX 9 Graphics with 128 MB memory; and a DVD-R/W drive. Microsoft has noted that the specifications might be amended or additional hardware might be required.