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Windows 7 Shipping Sept/Oct, Says Compal

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Until Windows 7 is announced to have gone gold and/or released to manufacturers, we’re likely to see continued speculation on the shipping date of Microsoft’s highly-anticipated operating system.

The company isn’t sharing any details on the possibility of an earlier-than-expected release of Windows 7, but Ray Chen, president of Taipei-based Compal Electronics Inc., (the maker of laptop personal computers for HP and Acer) shared information at an investor’s meeting that could point to fall.

“According to current planning, it should be late September or early October,” Chen said regarding the release of Windows 7, reports Bloomberg. Chen also forecast worldwide notebook shipments this year will be little changed from 2008 at 120 million to 125 million units, which some could find optimistic with the recession.

This news follows speculation that Windows 7 would be hitting its release candidate milestone on April 10, which if true, could make a release this year very possible.

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Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • computerninja7823
    SAWEET!!
    Reply
  • quovatis
    Another misleading title. This is speculation and even the quote says "should" not "is" shipping.
    Reply
  • BorisChechev
    I've been using Win7 Beta and it has very few bugs. Early release should work...
    Reply
  • aethm
    I think it's possible. I'm testing the beta 7000 version and it's darn good. Although, I don't really see a reason to upgrade because there is nothing wrong with Vista. It's still a smart move by microsoft since vista managed to earn a bad name even though it's a great os. Hopefully they will have a cheap upgrade option for vista users. I'm not holding my breath though.
    Reply
  • techtre2003
    I think this would make more sense if MS were able to ship by October. From what I've read, Win7 will run pretty well on Netbooks which I would venture to say will be one of the "hot" items this holiday season.

    I'd say if anyone outside of MS would have inside info on the estimated shipping date it would make sense that it would be the President of one of the largest notebook makers.
    Reply
  • squatchman
    It may be available to major OEMs like this guy's company, but I want to know when it is available retail.
    Reply
  • p05esto
    Yea, not much wrong with Vista....but a leaner and faster Windows 7 sounds good.
    Reply
  • I don't care what marketeers say.. I'm expecting it around July-august this year. If not, I wouldn't mind, since I'm currently not planning on buying an OS or computer.

    I might buy a mininotebook with windows 7, but only after oktober. So I'm not in a hurry. But it's not fun to see so many contradictions in the release date.
    Reply
  • n3ard3ath
    I got 6 or more gig of RAM, there is nothing wrong with Vista. I deactivated half the services, so it runs fine, there is nothing wrong with Vista. I listen Windows Mojave ads while touching myself, there is nothing wrong with Vista. Yeah right!

    Oh, and if this rumor is true, it just proves wrong those who said W7 were going to release years from now, and that the Vista SP2 claim was ludicrous.
    Reply
  • Tedders
    n3aRd3aThI got 6 or more gig of RAM, there is nothing wrong with Vista. I deactivated half the services, so it runs fine, there is nothing wrong with Vista. I listen Windows Mojave ads while touching myself, there is nothing wrong with Vista. Yeah right!Oh, and if this rumor is true, it just proves wrong those who said W7 were going to release years from now, and that the Vista SP2 claim was ludicrous.
    Haha, I have heard that stuff too. If it takes all of that work, then imagine what Joe Grandpa is having to deal with when he is using his 500 Best Buy machine with Vista.
    Reply