Microsoft’s Windows 7 to be in stores for 2009 holiday season
Posted By RichC on May 13, 2009
I’ve been happily running the Windows 7 Beta (post 1 & post 2) and see it as Microsoft’s best OS release since XP. Although the Release Candidate is now available for all to install, I’ve been slow to update my 7000 Beta build because I’d like a clean install requiring solid backups, my install CDs, de-authorization of certain licenses (Paul Thurrott‘s comments) and a few hours of time. I’m hoping to get into it this weekend.
The good news for investors is that MSFT announced that Windows 7 will go on sale in time for the 2009 holiday season. According to a WSJ article, Microsoft is making “a public commintment” that it “expects to be able to get the software into stores in time for the key retail season.” Bill Veghte, senior vice president for Windows, said “We’re tracking well to deliver Windows 7 in time for holiday availability based on the groundswell of feedback we received from the partner ecosystem, customers and through our own internal testing from pre-Beta to now.” He added, however, that Microsoft “will not ship the product…until it meets our quality bar.”
According to the article, “windows generates approximately one-third of Microsoft’s $60 billion in annual sales and is on more than 90% of the world’s personal computers, is the company’s most important product. Delivering a smooth launch of Windows 7 in time for the 2009 holiday season will go some way toward persuading both consumers and corporate customers Microsoft has learned the lessons of Vista.”
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