Microsoft at its TechEd conference today said it expects Windows 7 to ship towards the end of 2009. Although the company has until now maintained that the OS would ship near the three-year anniversary of Vista, or early 2010, senior Windows VP Bill Veghte now says he expects the update to ship before the holidays. He hasn't specified a particular date but says Windows Server 2008 R2, which shares a similar code base, should ship at the same time.

The admission noted by Ars Technica comes just a week after Microsoft delivered the Windows 7 release candidate and with seven months before the end of the year, all but supporting the release of Windows 7 in 2009. Multiple PC builders, including Acer, have publicly stated they expect an October ship date for the finished version.

An accelerated schedule has been prompted by a number of factors but dwells particularly on the poor response to Windows Vista at businesses and from some home users. The hesitation helped trigger a rare year-on-year decline in Microsoft's finances and has prompted an aggressive anti-Apple marketing campaign to try and prevent customers from switching to Macs before Windows 7 appears.