*I’ve updated this as it holds true for Vista, Windows 2008 and Windows 7*

As some may have noticed in both the Windows 7 beta and RC, there isn’t a way to access telnet and is believed to have been dropped. Well this isn’t completely true, it is there, just hidden. Telnet, while useful for troubleshooting and testing, is still a insecure application. Of course one of the focuses of Windows 7 is security, thus we have our issue. But fear not, it’s very easy (currently) to enable telnet. To enable it, all you need to do is the following;

1. Open the Windows 7 control panel.
2. Once there, go into programs
3. Then in programs and features, there will be an option to turn windows features on or off. It will be in the left side menu.
4. Click turn windows features on or off. Once you do this a menu will open. In this menu scroll down until you see Telnet client / Telnet Server. Check the boxes and click ok. Windows will save the changes and Telnet will be enabled.

Enjoy!