Acer Announces Windows 7 Release Date, Microsoft Quiet on Vista Expiration Date
Acer, company that specializes in providing a wide range of PC products ranging from high-end servers to multimedia desktop computers and netbooks, while discussing new hardware that will be released later this year has let it slip that Windows 7 will be released on the 23rd of October, 2009. The thing to take into consideration here is that the slipup occurred on two occasions: the release date was mentioned by the Acer European President and by the UK General Manager.
Here is what Acer European President Massimo D’Angelo said when asked whether the upcoming Z5600 PC will come with Windows 7 pre-installed: “No, when it’s in store it won’t have Windows 7 pre-loaded. We won’t be actually selling it a day before the 23rd October.”
The same date came to light when UK General Manager Bobby Watkins gave an interview to Pocket-lint: “23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available. There is a 30 day upgrade time so that customers don’t wait to buy a new computer, so if you buy during that 30 day period, you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7.”
When confronted with this piece of info, Microsoft issued this statement: “As we have said for some time, we are committed to making Windows 7 available within three years of the General Availability of Windows Vista.” As you can see, Microsoft is keeping quiet about the exact release date of Windows 7. One other topic the Redmond-based software developer is keeping quiet about is when the company will stop selling Windows Vista. According to General Manager and Windows Client Business Group Lead with Microsoft Asia-Pacific, Microsoft will pull support for Vista in April 2012, but Vista could be dropped earlier than that. “We are still not sure if [computer makers] will be able to ship Vista once Windows 7 is made available. Having said that, an enterprise customer that purchases a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed is allowed to downgrade to Vista should they desire, similar to what we have today on Vista to XP,” he said. But who is going to want to downgrade to Vista, when so many people have been clinging on to XP in expectance of Windows 7?
Here is what Acer European President Massimo D’Angelo said when asked whether the upcoming Z5600 PC will come with Windows 7 pre-installed: “No, when it’s in store it won’t have Windows 7 pre-loaded. We won’t be actually selling it a day before the 23rd October.”
The same date came to light when UK General Manager Bobby Watkins gave an interview to Pocket-lint: “23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available. There is a 30 day upgrade time so that customers don’t wait to buy a new computer, so if you buy during that 30 day period, you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7.”
When confronted with this piece of info, Microsoft issued this statement: “As we have said for some time, we are committed to making Windows 7 available within three years of the General Availability of Windows Vista.” As you can see, Microsoft is keeping quiet about the exact release date of Windows 7. One other topic the Redmond-based software developer is keeping quiet about is when the company will stop selling Windows Vista. According to General Manager and Windows Client Business Group Lead with Microsoft Asia-Pacific, Microsoft will pull support for Vista in April 2012, but Vista could be dropped earlier than that. “We are still not sure if [computer makers] will be able to ship Vista once Windows 7 is made available. Having said that, an enterprise customer that purchases a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed is allowed to downgrade to Vista should they desire, similar to what we have today on Vista to XP,” he said. But who is going to want to downgrade to Vista, when so many people have been clinging on to XP in expectance of Windows 7?
