Microsoft has already promised us to release Windows 7 when 2010 will barely have hatched. And yet, according to CNET News, a series of factors may eventually determine the company to launch Windows 7 next year, in November.

After all, 2009 would be a much more convenient year to do this. The Vista fiasco really hurt the OS' reputation and it's one of the reasons for the recent slight slump in sales. It's also true that Windows XP's lifespan, which should have been gloriously cut down by Vista, was extended well into 2009.

Releasing Windows 7 earlier than previously announced will help patch up some of the PR wounds sustained by Microsoft because of Vista. CEO Steve Ballmer's speeches have recently begun to put more and more emphasis on Windows 7 and less on Vista. It's not just because the former OS is meant to be a much improved version of the latter; it would seem that Microsoft wants us to slowly forget Vista ever existed.

Maybe 2010 would have been a really viable launch possibility if the advertising effort centered around improving Vista's image would have worked – at least temporarily. But even Jerry Seinfeld ads couldn't sweeten the bitter aftertaste left by the operating system's bugs soufflé. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised to hear Ballmer say, at the next Consumer Electronics Show in January, that Windows 7 will come to us earlier than accepted.

CNET News suggests that November 2 would be a suitable 2009 launch. The two arguments in favor of this would be: first, that Microsft would thus still have plenty of time for all the finishing touches; second, that this date stands at the gate of the next holiday season, when shopping becomes as natural and necessary as breathing, it would seem.