It is going to take some work for those who want to move from the beta version of Windows 7 to the upcoming “release candidate” version.

Microsoft said that it is offering two choices for going from the beta to the newer test version, which is due shortly, in a blog posting on Tuesday. Neither is easy.

The recommended method is going back to Windows Vista and upgrade from that. Microsoft has asked testers to follow this approach. It will help the company to get more feedback on the experience that the typical user will have in going from Vista to Windows 7.

The company acknowledged in its blog,”We know many people (including tens of thousands at Microsoft) are relying on the pre-release builds of Windows 7 for mission critical and daily work, making this step less than convenient. We’re working hard to provide the highest quality release we can and so we’d like to make sure for this final phase of testing we’re supporting the most real world scenarios possible, which incremental build to build upgrades are not. At the same time everyone on the beta has been so great we wanted to make sure we at least offered an opportunity to make your own expert and informed choice about how to handle the upgrade.”

For those who want to upgrade directly from the beta to the release candidate, it will be able to do so, but only by using a series of complicated steps. The company also predicted that the same hassles will apply for those moving from the release candidate to the final version of Windows 7.