Microsoft will release Windows 7 on Oct 22, ahead of its original schedule and in time for the year end holiday season.

“We feel confident that we will deliver Windows 7 with our partners on Oct. 22,” Bill Veghte, senior vice president for Microsoft’s Windows business, said.

There is no news on pricing, and we do not know if there is any licensing restriction to run Windows 7 on virtual machine. And it is still early for Apple to announce support for Windows 7 on Bootcamp. The wait is almost over for the true upgrade to Windows XP.