San Francisco - Microsoft will release the successor to its much maligned Windows Vista operating system before the end of the year, a senior company executive said Monday.

"With early testing and extensive partner feedback we've received, Windows 7 is tracking well for holiday availability," Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the Windows Business at Microsoft, told attendees at the Tech Ed 2009 conference in Los Angeles.

In a blog posting a spokesman for Microsoft confirmed the timeline. "It looks like we'll be able to have Windows 7 done in time for the holidays," spokesman Brandon LeBlanc wrote.

The release news came a week after Microsoft made a final test version available to the public for feedback on the new operating system.

The schedule means that new computers bought in the crucial holiday season will come pre-loaded with the new operating system, providing a powerful incentive for buyers and a potential sales boost to retailers and manufacturers.

Windows Vista was released after numerous delays in January 2007. However it has not been well received by either consumers or businesses, because of its complexity, stringent hardware requirements and high upgrade costs.(dpa)