As the October 22nd release date nears, excitement continues to build over Windows 7. After playing with the beta and, more recently, the Release Candidate (RC), many feel Windows 7 is what Vista should have been all along, including XP stalwarts who skipped the Vista release altogether. Nevertheless, don’t expect the new OS to give the PC market a kick in the rump, says Microsoft.

"History would tell us that generally as you ship a Windows release into the market, the bump is very modest," Microsoft senior vice president Bill Veghte said at the UBS Global Technology and Services Conference. "You will see a little bit, but it is modest."

Perhaps a victim of timing, Veghte went on to say that while enthusiasm for Windows 7 runs high on the business side of the fence, "it will get drowned out by the macroeconomic environment."

Veghte also talked about Windows 7’s potential impact on the average selling price of Windows, which has gone down as consumers clamor for low-cost netbooks. He said it was hard to tell what impact Windows 7 will have, noting that it probably won’t be like it was when XP shipped, and during the beginning of Vista.

Image Credit: Microsoft