Earlier this week, I confirmed a Bloomberg news report that quoted a Microsoft ODM executive saying that Windows 7 would ship in the September/October timeframe. A source at Microsoft also told me that the company had a contingency plan to deliver the OS in January in the event that the European Union took action against it - mirroring the Windows Vista launch. Now, it appears as if the feature set is already locked down.

Yesterday, the Windows engineering team blogged about the changes that have been made to the OS since the first public beta. These changes will be delivered in an upcoming release candidate and are mostly cosmetic. Microsoft has made minor tweaks to Media Player, networking, task bar, touch features and Windows Explorer, as well as improving overall system performance. Based on my experience with beta testing Window, this is an indication that the feature set may already be locked down.

I'm more and more convinced that PCs shipping this holiday season will be preloaded with Windows 7 - the EU willing. This could provide a shot in the arm to sagging PC sales, and an October ship date would be good for Microsoft's myriad of partners and the industry at large.