Microsoft plans to herald the October 22nd launch of Windows 7 with multiple special event, the company confirmed today in an invitation sent to the press. A New York City gathering will lead the events and should include an appearance by company CEO Steve Ballmer. Smaller events are also planned for elsewhere in the US and likely other countries, though what these would involve wasn't detailed in the invitation.

"Exciting new hardware" will be on show, the invitation reads. Many Windows PC makers are known to be holding off on new computer releases until Windows 7 is at or near ready, particularly touchscreen models that would take advantage of the new OS' improved support.

The New York event will be the first since company co-founder Bill Gates gradually phased out of full-time work but will otherwise have some similarity to the Vista launch on January 30th 2007, which also involved a high-profile New York City introduction.

Unofficially, it's anticipated Microsoft will meet with a more favorable launch than nearly three years ago, when it saw lackluster turnout from customers who saw little incentive to upgrade or who through competition had become less dependent on Microsoft software. Windows 7 is closely related to Vista but makes more noticeable improvements to the user interface and also addresses Vista's performance problems on netbooks and other low-end PCs.

Apple, meanwhile, hasn't said it would plan any special events for Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which officially ships Friday.