Windows 7 Shipping By September?

It's no secret that Microsoft is trying to get Windows 7 out the door as soon as humanly possible, but today HP/Acer laptop manufacturer Compal president Ray Chen has said "according to current planning, it should be late September or early October."

Indeed, some Microsoft execs have said as much, such as Windows group SVP Bill Veghte, who said last October that we'd see a Windows 7 release in a year, and Bill Gates himself, whose said in April 2008 that we'd see Win 7 "in the next year or so."

That's a far cry from a hard date, of course, but Microsoft's 38% decline in stock prices over the last year means the company isn't taking its sweet time, and global notebook shipments this year will be about the same as last year: 125 million, just a bit more than last year's 120 million.

Add to those numbers the relatively warm reception given the Windows 7 beta (more stable on one of my old machines than Vista has ever been on my main PC) and its no surprise to see Windows 7 inching closer.

Microsoft May Ship Windows in September, Compal Says (Update2) [Bloomberg]