According to the author, "Microsoft has released it’s Windows 7 Release Candidate (Win7RC) and is making it available to, well, pretty much everyone! In the past, beta’s and release candidates would normally be released to IT professionals who had an extra computer kicking around to test things like this on. Yet, what if you just have the one computer at home and really want to test Win7RC, what do you do? Here’s the answer and it’s not as scary as you might think. Install a virtual machine (VM). What in blue blazes is a virtual machine you ask? Think of it as a computer within a computer. Then you can install whatever you want to test on it, without fear of losing your main operating system and the files on it. I’m going to outline the installation of Sun’s VirtualBox. There are quite a few VM’s out there, I just chose Sun’s since it was recommended to me by a friend who is vastly more knowledgeable about computers than me. Yes, it’s true. Someone knows more than me. Okay, most people know more than me."