Several independent sources are reporting that Microsoft has advanced Windows 7’s development to the next code milestone. Word is rolling in that Microsoft spun build 7105 today at 12:35 PM with a build string of 6.1.7105.0.winmain.090404-1235.

It is believed that this is a new phase in the development of Windows 7 because the second digit of the build has been incremented. This pattern would closely follow previous events in the incubation of Windows 7:

• Milestone 2: 6500 series
• Milestone 3: 6700 series
• Pre-beta: 6800 series
• Beta 1: 7000 series

Which now brings us to the 7100 series which we believe represents Windows 7’s transition into the code escrow phase of development. We predicted this movement for the end of March and it means that no new features will be added to Windows 7; further development will exist only to eliminate bugs from the code. Remember that Windows 7 RC1 is being released in May, and that a release candidate is supposed to represent the feature-complete edition of your product. It’s easy to conclude that Microsoft has now implemented its final features and is now taking the month of April to polish out the bugs.

Release candidacy will undoubtedly spawn a string of minor builds that all lead to a September RTM and a November retail introduction. The back to school season is profitable, you know.