EA has announced that the original version of Command & Conquer: Red Alert is now available for free download, partly in celebration of the game's thirteenth anniversary but mainly to promote the upcoming Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - a title that many fans across the globe have been waiting to play for seven years.

You can head over to EA's official page to download both the Allies and Soviets discs. Additionally, those who pre-order Red Alert 3 (due out next month) can download Red Alert 2 for free along with some other exclusive content. That means you can get all three PC games for about $50, so why not go back to where it all began before taking Red Alert 3 for a spin?

Both Red Alert 1 and 2 run only on Windows versions from 95 to XP, but the company says that you can find tips on getting them to work with Vista on various sites. In somewhat related news, Ubisoft is also offering a classic from their back catalog as a pre-order incentive, with the original Far Cry going for free to those who pre-order Far Cry 2 from its online store.