There are two stages in the availability of Windows Vista. November 30, 2006 will mark the operating system's initial release, exclusively to volume license business customers. General availability is scheduled for January 2006. "A Nov. 30 business launch is a very clear sign that Windows Vista will be widely available in January 2007," said Joe Wilcox, a Jupiter Research analyst. Recently, Jim Allchin Co-President, Platforms & Services Division, has also reiterated the Redmond Company's plans for Vista's launch to the general public in the debut of 2007.

For the business launch of Windows Vista, Microsoft has chosen the New York's Nasdaq stock exchange as the stage. The Redmond Company's Microsoft New Day for Business on November 30 "will mark the business availability of three major releases from Microsoft," revealed the software maker in a press release. Three releases because, as is the case of the 2007 Microsoft Launch Event in Alberta, Canada, on Nov. 23, the launching of Windows Vista will be accompanied by the 2007 Microsoft Office system and the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

Scheduled to be present at the event is none other than Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer. The Microsoft New Day for Business event will take place at the Nasdaq Stock Market in midtown Manhattan and the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

"The software turned a pretty definitive corner around RC1, when it became much less buggy and much better performing," stated PC industry analyst Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. "It's been clear that the launch is going forward."