Speaking at a seminar on corporate philanthropy last week in Miami, Bill Gates said Microsoft may ship a new version of its Windows operating system as soon as 2009.

Microsoft to date has said little about Windows 7, which had been in development under the code name Blackcomb. It was generally believed that the OS would ship in the 2010 time frame.

Some computer users are hoping Windows 7 will present a slimmer profile than Vista.

To experience all of Vista's features, PC users need a computer with at least a 1-GHz processor, 1 GB of memory, and a 40-GB hard drive. By contrast, Windows XP Professional requires only a 300-MHz processor, 128 Mbytes of RAM, and a 1.5 GB disk.

Microsoft has extended the life of the older Windows XP OS for longer than originally planned -- in part to keep Linux out of the PC market's low end.

The company said last week that it would allow computer makers to continue to sell Windows XP on "ultra low-cost PCs", or ULCPCs, for an extended period.

Microsoft said it would allow system vendors to preload the Home edition of Windows XP on ULCPCs through June 2010, or one year after the next version of Windows becomes generally available.

By: DocMemory
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