As promised, Microsoft opened its newest build of Windows Vista to public downloading, but the short time that Release Candidate 2 (RC2) was available irked left-out users.

Friday, Microsoft unveiled Vista RC2 (build 5744) to select testers, saying that it would be the last interim release before the operating system was released to manufacturing. That day, Nick White, a program manager with the Vista launch group, said that participants in the Customer Preview Program (CPP) would also be given the chance to download the new code.

They were, beginning Friday night.

But on Monday morning Microsoft turned off the spigot, a move that distressed users who were too late or had only downloaded part of the massive .iso file.

"I got the download started, then it got interrupted right before it finished. Now the links don't work. Not fair," wrote someone identified as "Gary96LT4" on the Vista group's blog.

"Definitely a too short of a download window, only get notification of the rc2 release last nite [sic], now it's to [sic] late to download," wrote "Britedj." another blog commenter. "I feel like i have been cheated out of the update process."

Links on the blog which purport to take users to RC2 downloads instead redirect to the Windows Vista Web site, where only RC1 is available.

Microsoft is shooting for a delivery to volume licensees in November, and to retail customers via upgrades and new PCs in January 2007. Last week, Rick Sherlund, a noted Wall Street analyst with Goldman Sachs, said that he believed Vista would ship on schedule, a statement that sent Microsoft's stock into a small surge.