Microsoft has insisted they have not yet settled on a launch date for their Windows 7 OS but a new report on News.com may have had a third-party spill the beans on a possible release date. A rep for the UK division of PC maker Acer claims that Windows 7 will in fact launch on October 23.

That's certainly in line with what others are expecting Microsoft to do with the launch of the next major OS. Idealy they would like to have PCs with Windows 7 installed and in stores before the start of the busy holiday shopping season. In the meantime the release candidate for Windows 7 is now available to download for MSDN and/or TechNet subscribers. The general public can download the release candidate on May 5.