He later told iTWire that the machine, which looks no larger than an aluminium encased sheet of A4 paper, was a working device rather than a concept product, although refused to provide any specifications such as weight, size or price, saying only that “it will be released in the future.” He did however confirm that the machine had been designed for Windows 7.

And according to Tracey Fellows; “What you will see about Windows 7 is that it works.” Whether that means that Microsoft is finally admitting Vista didn’t is moot.

What is undeniable is that Vista’s lacklustre reputation did prompt many enterprise customers to stretch out the lives of their workhorse XP based machines rather than make the switch to the new operating system. A decent number of consumers also retrofitted XP onto their PCs rather than stick with Vista.

Now Microsoft and hardware makers are hoping that a slew of new machines designed with Windows 7 in mind will see corporations and Governments open their wallets, and also encourage consumers to buy new PCs in the run up to Christmas.

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