Microsoft this morning confirmed what the industry has been assuming for months: Windows 7 is slated to be available in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season. The news is being announced in conjunction with the company's TechEd conference in Los Angeles.

The company didn't give a specific date, but the announcement will add an extra degree of certainty as PC makers, retailers, software developers and others plan for the next version of the operating system. The company has been keeping the release timing under wraps much further into the development process than in the past.

Microsoft on May 5 made the Windows 7 Release Candidate available for download, marking one of the final stages in the development of the product. A Microsoft news release today quotes Bill Veghte, Windows senior vice president, saying that Windows 7 is "tracking well for holiday availability" based on testing of the release candidate and feedback from the company's industry partners.

In a blog post, Windows engineering chief Steven Sinofsky goes into more detail on the process:

Delivering the highest quality Windows 7 is the most important criteria for us at this point -- quality in every dimension. The RTM process is designed to be deliberate and maintain the overall engineering integrity of the system. Many are pushing us to release the product sooner rather than later, but our focus remains on a high quality release.

Ultimately our partners will determine when their PCs are available in market.  If the feedback and telemetry on Windows 7 match our expectations then we will enter the final phases of the RTM process in about 3 months.  If we are successful in that, then we tracking to our shared goal of having PCs with Windows 7 available this Holiday season. 

Separately, reports surfaced today on the first bug in the Windows 7 Release Candidate, requiring a downloadable fix. Ed Bott has more detail at ZDNet.

With the Windows 7 release, Microsoft is aiming to overcome Windows Vista's troubled image. Vista was plagued by software and hardware compatibility problems in the early days of its release. Initial reviews of Windows 7 have been positive, and the technological leap between Windows 7 and Windows Vista isn't as large as the jump from Windows XP to Windows Vista was.

Microsoft also said today that that Windows Server 2008 R2, an upgrade to its server operating system, will be released "in the same timeframe" as Windows 7. Microsoft made a release candidate of that product available for download today. Execs at TechEd will be talking about using Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 together, trying to persuade companies to upgrade to both more quickly.

(Updated at 10:30 a.m. with additional information and context.)