Acer says Windows 7 to ship 23 Oct

UK managing director Bobby Watkins said that the company will start offering systems sporting the new Microsoft OS on 23 Oct, confirming earlier reports that Windows 7 would ship ahead of Microsoft's original target of early 2010.

In an interview with gadget site Pocket Lint about an upcoming PC model, Watkins said "23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available," when explaining the company's update policy.

News of the release date comes shortly after Microsoft made the first release candidate builds of Windows 7 available.

The release candidate builds are believed to be the final versions of the operating system to be released before the company officially makes Windows 7 available to system vendors and, later, the general public.

Earlier this week, the company revealed that it would be including a new security fix for the release candidate build which would help guard against newly-resurgent 'AutoRun' malware attacks in removable drives.