Windows 7 Arrives 22 October

 

The much-hyped and much-awaited release date of Windows 7 is finally out; Microsoft has officially confirmed 22 October as the day Windows 7 will hit retail. The date is just one day earlier than the date that had been reported earlier.

 

Windows 7 is Microsoft’s successor to Windows Vista, which failed to meet expectations of users. Though Vista did generate massive sales and caught the fancy of millions of computer users, it failed to dethrone Windows XP as the preferred OS.

 

With Windows 7, the tech giant hopes to reverse its fortunes. Both the Beta and the Release Candidate versions of Windows 7 have been well received by testers and users alike, and there are strong expectations from the new OS. Rumours, reports and discussions about the many new features being introduced by Microsoft in Windows 7 have also been making the rounds for months.

 

Announcing the release date, Bill Veghte, senior vice president for Windows said, “We feel confident that we will deliver Windows 7 with our partners on Oct 22.” The date gives a major advantage to Microsoft as the OS will hit retail right at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. This should generate good sales as people generally tend to get new systems around this period.

 

At the same time, Microsoft is also likely to miss out on student users as an October release is way beyond the start of the school season, another period when demand for new systems goes right through the roof.

 

The release date should also give Microsoft an edge over its main competitor; Apple is also expected to release Snow Leopard, the newest version of its Mac OS sometime this year. But where Apple is yet to come out with a confirmed release date, Microsoft has taken the lead by doing so.

 

Discuss in our Forums