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Acer says that Windows 7 will be available October 23, 2009

Kevin.   on 30 April 2009 - 17:43 · 47 comments & 11029 views

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According to Pocket Lint, Acer has confirmed that Windows 7 will be available on October 23 on their new all-in-one Z5600 PC. Acer has also confirmed that any Vista based PC purchased 30 days prior will receive a free upgrade to Windows 7.

While we still don't have an official release date from Microsoft yet, and even though there has been an internal release date of January 30, 2010 set, rumors have been flying around saying that Windows 7 may be released sometime later this year.
With the public release of the release candidate right around the corner
, and development towards the RTM already on track, it's possible that Acer's release date could be true.

This week, Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte told Paul Thurrott that "a holiday release is accomplishable."

What do you think, Neowin? Could Acer's date signal a possible release date for Windows 7, or is it still to early to tell yet?

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 47 additional comments
(2 replies) #1 +warwagon on 30 Apr 2009 - 17:47
Sounds about right.
#1.1 excalpius on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:03
Acer has a LOT of shovelware to slipstream into new machines.

BTW, you'll see other OEMs to market with Windows 7 machines sooner than this.
#1.2 Lord Ba'al on 01 May 2009 - 01:58
warwagon said,
Sounds about right.

Yes, with the RC already out (and the public release coming in a few days), I'd be really surprised if if took them until end of next January to release Rtm.

It took then about five months from Beta to RC, and it shouldn't take them any more from RC to Rtm (rather less).
#2 pauldr777 on 30 Apr 2009 - 17:48
I'm going to hold out to see what Microsoft says about this, but if this is the release date that would be awesome, as I am not a very patient person
#3 Klownicle on 30 Apr 2009 - 17:49
Wow.. thats really soon.
(1 reply) #4 lee26 on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:19
I'm skeptical because an RTM usually appears two months before it's general release making it around the end of August which is possible but about 3 or 4 weeks too early but I hope I'm wrong.
#4.1 excalpius on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:47
I've said since last year that...

RC - End of April...BINGO!
RTM - End of July (a showstopper would means beginning of August, but I don't see that happening)

On store shelves in September (or OCT, depending on OEM) in time for Christmas shopping season.
#5 sibot on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:25
And we get to hear it from Acer !
#6 x-byte on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:38
Almost the same date as XP... I'm guessing September/October myself. The Holiday and the new semester is very important. MS would want to make it available around that time.
(1 reply) #7 profets on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:39
i would have to think that MS would be pushing to have a fall/Q4 launch for windows7. Didn't XP have a few RCs in late summer and hit retail shelves in october? , and Vista have a few RCs around september and hit RTM in november, retail in january? i'd think with how well windows 7 has been and RC being out now that it should definitely be doable to have Windows 7 launch at retail in september/october
#7.1 excalpius on 01 May 2009 - 19:39
XP was just a retread of the NT/2000 kernel/code, so it was relatively easy to guarantee the Xmas release they always want.

Vista was the second pass at rewriting everything from the ground up and it still wasn't 100% baked when it came out of the oven in Nov/Jan.

But, like XP, Windows 7 is a polish of a previous codebase (Vista), which is why I've been telling people since last year what the release schedule will be...and why I've been dead on.
(7 replies) #8 jamesVault on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:50
welcome to the crapware world of Acer:
    Acer eAudio
    Acer eDataSecurity Management
    Acer eFramework Empowering Technology
    Acer eLock Management
    Acer eNet Management
    Acer ePower Management
    Acer eSetting Management
    Acer LaunchManager
    Acer Arcade Deluxe
    Acer GridVista
    Acer Mobility Center Add-on
    Acer ePerformance Management
    Norton 360 trial
    ...


Last edited by jamesVault on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:58
#8.1 devHead on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:04
What do you expect from OEMs? Acer is just about the same as all the other crapware loaded machines from Dell, HP, EMachines, etc.

What's sad is that people will judge the speed of Windows 7 based on these OEM installs that are filled with their garbage and have 17 apps run at Startup even though they're not needed. Like all the e[insert bloatware name here] stuff. LaunchManager? Who needs something like that? eFramework Empowering Technology? What the heck!!

Microsoft should crack down on these OEMs a little more.
#8.2 C_Guy on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:13
Yes, tThey should... but the EU and DoJ would have a temper tantrum.
#8.3 Thunderbuck on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:43
Acer wants to differentiate their products from every other PC manufacturers'. They do this by adding their own features, some of which are hardware, some are software. Basic marketing.

And, yes, I've owned Acer PCs. Yes, their software "features" are crapware. But since they build 'em, they have the right to send them out the door however they see fit.

You don't like 'em, don't buy 'em.
#8.4 mmck on 01 May 2009 - 00:01
Zoostorm from ebuyer = no crapware whatsoever.
#8.5 pasty2k2 on 01 May 2009 - 02:32
mmck said,
Zoostorm from ebuyer = no crapware whatsoever.


Build it yourself = whatever you want.
#8.6 Jaron on 01 May 2009 - 03:50
devHead said,
Microsoft should crack down on these OEMs a little more.

I remember reading that they are trying to do something about it. The new taskbar notification is one way they are addressing this issue. There might be something in MS new agreement about keeping the desktop completely clear aside form the Recycle bin.
#8.7 LiquidSolstice on 01 May 2009 - 06:35
pasty2k2 said,
Build it yourself = whatever you want.


+1
#9 Quillz on 30 Apr 2009 - 18:59
October 23 sounds accurate to me. RC1 is extremely stable (as was Beta 1, too), and frankly, I think Windows 7 is good enough for release as it stands now.

Not to mention October 23 will be in time for the lucrative holiday shopping season, which Microsoft missed with Windows Vista.
#10 The Teej on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:19
Oooh, October is pretty close. I hope we get pricing schemes soon so I know how much I need to save up...
(2 replies) #11 starburst1980 on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:21
IMO Too early....

But:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/windows_timeline.htm

So it may be possible....
On a personal note, I love Vista. I see that there is nothing wrong with it. It works perfect and has not given me any errors. But I point out something from that page I just linked:

November 1999 Windows Millennium Edition Beta 2
September 2000 Windows Me

October 2000 Windows Whistler Beta 1
March 2001 Windows XP Beta 2
June 2001 Windows XP RC 1
July 2001 Windows XP RC 2
August 2001 Windows XP RTM
October 25, 2001 Windows XP Home and Professional


See a small connection between this and the Windows Vista and Windows 7 transition?
#11.1 Thunderbuck on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:38
Your timeline is really interesting; do "search and replace" on "2001" for "2009", and "XP" for "7", and this might be close.

If anything, Win7's even more ready for RTM than the Whistler RC's were.

And, BTW, I also love Vista. It's "problems", as far as I'm concerned, are largely a product of perception (though I do think there were some legitimate concerns on the enterprise side). Vista was really an interim release, though. Win7 is really the platform they wanted to move to in the first place.

I've been running the beta, I've installed the RC on my main, production machine (off a torrent!), and I'm seriously impressed.
#11.2 Lord Ba'al on 01 May 2009 - 02:05
Yes, the XP time line looks interesting indeed.
If you ignore than it had two Betas and two RCs, we could very well have Win7 Rtm in August and Retail in October.
(2 replies) #12 2Cold Scorpio on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:35
If I were MS, I'd be gunning for an early- to med-August release to cash in on the back-to-school season as well as the holiday season. If the RC already seems pretty well ready, I don't see a reason to wait five more months. ^_^ If nothing else, get it to the OEMs in August, and get general availability in September (or even October, if needed).
#12.1 excalpius on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:48
Bingo! Now you are getting it, amigo. See my timeline above...which I've been posting for months now.
#12.2 Thunderbuck on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:40
Yeah, August-September sounds right.
#13 roadwarrior on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:44
Considering that we are getting the public RC the first week of May, I see absolutely no reason that RTM couldn't easily happen sometime during the mid to late summer. Having machines shipping with 7 preinstalled in late October should be a no-brainer.
#14 Gabe3 on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:56
october is 6 months away, i don't see how thats "soon". It'd be nice if they could get RTM out in july-august. I'm ready for a new OS. while I don't have any issues with vista, I'm ready for something new.
#15 Pam14160 on 30 Apr 2009 - 19:59
Not sure, albeit MS may have to wait to see what the computer manufacture' s are going to do in terms of release date for OEM units. September would be nice; been part of the original testing since October, and have to say it appears to be ready for the public. Downloaded RC1 this morning and am setting on it at this moment. Actually I am sitting on Linux Ubuntu running in VMware VM with no problems.
(3 replies) #16 Andrew-DB on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:14
I've heard rumblings that 7 is completely 100% done.

They're just pushing out RC candidates to tease people with a non-finalized product.. kind of like a movie trailer of sorts and whatever bugs people find in the RC candidates they'll be added to Service Pack fixes.
#16.1 starburst1980 on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:24
Andrew-DB said,
I've heard rumblings that 7 is completely 100% done.

They're just pushing out RC candidates to tease people with a non-finalized product.. kind of like a movie trailer of sorts and whatever bugs people find in the RC candidates they'll be added to Service Pack fixes.

Ive also heard that I have rewritten all the Windows source code and will sell it to Bill and he will release it as Windows 8.
#16.2 +majortom1981 on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:53
Andrew-DB said,
I've heard rumblings that 7 is completely 100% done.

They're just pushing out RC candidates to tease people with a non-finalized product.. kind of like a movie trailer of sorts and whatever bugs people find in the RC candidates they'll be added to Service Pack fixes.


I hope your joking. Rc means release candidate . So if it has no huge bugs it could become the actual release version.

Most likely some small bugs will be fixed but other then that there should be no huge changes to windows 7 between rc and gold.
#16.3 Andrew-DB on 30 Apr 2009 - 21:05
majortom1981 said,
I hope your joking. Rc means release candidate . So if it has no huge bugs it could become the actual release version.

Most likely some small bugs will be fixed but other then that there should be no huge changes to windows 7 between rc and gold.


I know what RC means. Believe me .. I know what RC means.

That's just what I'm saying.

They've polished it to a "final" version they're going to release, and whatever bugs people find in the RC and RTM versions, they're going to be service pack fixes.
(1 reply) #17 hardgiant on 30 Apr 2009 - 20:22
RTM will be July or August I'm betting.
#17.1 Caveman-ugh on 01 May 2009 - 00:07
I agree with you totally .... Paul Thurrott said originally around that time for the RTM, he also said the RC would be in April (well he wasn't far out was he ?).
(3 replies) #18 Gabe3 on 30 Apr 2009 - 21:42
how long after the first RC does MS typically give out release dates?
#18.1 The Grasshopper on 01 May 2009 - 00:22
Gabe3 said,
how long after the first RC does MS typically give out release dates?

i received this in an email just today. here is your answer;
When will the final version of Windows 7 be available?

The final engineering milestone is the release to manufacturing (RTM), typically 3-5 months after the RC. We believe the product is high quality and to date have received very positive feedback. This might result in RTM delivery before the 3-5 months timeframe. Ultimately, you'll decide the quality and assess the delivery once you download and use the RC. Customer and partner feedback will determine how quickly we release.
#18.2 Gabe3 on 01 May 2009 - 00:55
that almost answered my question, but I was asking when we can expect MS to give us a release date.
#18.3 Lord Ba'al on 01 May 2009 - 02:17
[quote]We believe the product is high quality and to date have received very positive feedback. This might result in RTM delivery before the 3-5 months timeframe."
I'll have to agrre on the "high quality".
So does that mean we might be seeing Rtm beginning of July already? Very nice.
#19 Caveman-ugh on 01 May 2009 - 00:04
For all us people who are NOT American when is your "Summer Holidays" ?
#20 Raa on 01 May 2009 - 01:04
No, I don't think that this release date will happen. '09 quite likely, but not October.
#21 pasty2k2 on 01 May 2009 - 02:32
Haha, this would be cool - Oct 23rd is my birthday!
#22 eblkheart on 01 May 2009 - 02:48
I haven't seen this posted (unless I am blind as a bat), but I got this in my partner email today:
When will the final version of Windows 7 be available?
The final engineering milestone is the release to manufacturing (RTM), typically 3-5 months after the RC. We believe the product is high quality and to date have received very positive feedback. This might result in RTM delivery before the 3-5 months timeframe. Ultimately, you'll decide the quality and assess the delivery once you download and use the RC. Customer and partner feedback will determine how quickly we release.

Interesting...

But thought this was interesting:
How will Microsoft collect and use feedback from Windows 7 RC?
With this release, we are focused on verifying that all the changes and fixes we made based on the beta tests and feedback are working correctly. We do that by gathering the automatically generated information (called telemetry) that your PC sends us when you use Windows 7 RC. Telemetry tells us when your computer hangs, crashes, or has performance issues, and what applications or devices you were using when you experienced problems. It is important that we gather this data from thousands of different hardware configurations to confirm that the fixes we included based on beta feedback work on a wide range of hardware. It will also help us identify any new problems.

#23 AnthoWin on 01 May 2009 - 03:30
to miss the Christmas holiday quarter is something MS might want to avoid a la Vista's launch.
#24 smooth3006 on 03 May 2009 - 21:23
id say it will be in stores by november just in time for the busy holiday shopping sales, which will be great for micro$oft. im already starting to save for 7.

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