updated 1:14 p.m. ET May 11, 2009
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. says the next version(版本) of Windows will go on sale in time for the holiday shopping season. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture(合资公司) of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
The software maker published an almost-final version of Windows 7 last week, a sign it would be ready before the official January 2010 deadline.
Windows 7 will replace the much-maligned(口碑很不好的) Vista, which launched too late for the 2006 holiday season.
Microsoft had guaranteed free Vista upgrades to people who bought new XP computers for the holidays. But Microsoft was criticized when it turned out some of those PCs weren't powerful enough to run a full version of Vista.
Having Windows 7 in time for the holidays may help boost PC sales, which have been stalled(拖延) by the recession.