During the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft Corporation is expected to officially release the beta version of their new operating system said to be able to make amends for Vista, Windows 7.

Even though the company’s chairman Bill Gates would be a no-show to the event, having given his final CES speech earlier this year, the audience will get to hear Microsoft Chief Executing Officer (CEO) Steve Ballmer deliver a keynote address on January 7, which will kick off the manifestation.

Nevertheless, what everybody’s waiting for from the CES is a peak at the brand new Windows 7, which has been released in alpha edition back in October, at the tech giant’s Professional Developers Conference that took place in Los Angeles.

Although the Consumer Electronics Association stated that pre-registration for the event had been on the high, CEA spokeswoman Tara Dunion having announced that organizers were expecting a number of 130,000 attendees, rumor has it that CES 2009 would be a rather quiet show.

Given the economic crisis, which has rendered both consumers and technology vendors to cut back, it seems that the main attraction and the only one able to boost the number of participants is the much awaited Windows 7 OS, although on the whole, 2,700 companies are scheduled to show their products in different locations during the CES.

Still, along with Microsoft, word has it that Sony would be dazzling the audience at the CES in January, too, where it is expected to unveil a new Vaio notebook said to alter the way people look at notebooks forever.