Digital Home Thoughts: Windows 7 Available on October 22nd

"Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday its new Windows 7 operating system will be generally available on October 22, well ahead of its original schedule and in time for the holiday shopping season. The new operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vista, was originally planned for roll-out at the beginning of next year, but Microsoft confirmed last month that it would hit the market in time for the year's busiest buying period."

And there you have it folks, the day has been announced: October 22nd will be when Windows 7 is sitting on retail shelves. The RTM of Windows 7 is going to be around the end of July - giving Microsoft almost two months to polish up the OS and squash the most serious bugs. No news yet on the pricing of Windows 7 or, and this is important to me, the way Microsoft will price upgrade bundles for homes with multiple Windows Vista computers. I hope they come up with something smart, because this matters more now than it did in the XP to Vista transition.