Microsoft: Windows 7 due out by the holiday shopping season
In other words, you should be able to purchase the OS and find it preinstalled on computers no later than December. But it could be out even before then.
Microsoft released the first public beta of Windows 7 in January, and the release candidate went public last week. But the company has been reluctant to put a timetable on the final release of the operating system, and for good reason. Nobody wanted a repeat of the oft-pushed back Windows Vista. It's typically better to underpromise and overdeliver than vice versa. So that said, I'm fairly confident that when Microsoft says Windows 7 will be out by the holidays, it means that the operating system will be out by the holidays.
It's not a done deal yet though. Microsoft still has to take the next step, which is to release Windows 7 to manufacturers. That's expected to happen in about 3 months or so.
[via Windows Team Blog]
