Windows 7 available in October 2009

US software giant Microsoft said on Tuesday that Windows 7, its new generation personal computer operating system, would be available in 22 October 2009 in a brief statement which provided no further details.

Microsoft had said last month that Windows 7, which replaces the much maligned Vista, would be available to customers in time for the holiday shopping season and the October release date is ahead of expectations.

Windows operating systems are used in about 90 percent of the world's computers, according to industry figures.

Microsoft released a nearly final version of Window 7 known as Windows 7 Release Candidate last month and invited feedback from the public in a test of the operating system's capabilities.

Copies of Windows 7 RC were also made available to developers and early reviews have praised the operating system for its stability and for avoiding problems that plagued its predecessor Vista.

Vista complaints included that it was not compatible with some software designed for the previous-generation Windows XP operating system and that it was too much for smaller capacity "netbooks" or older computers to handle.