Windows 7 Beta 1 to arrive January 13?

At the Professional Developers Conference in late October, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky announced that Windows 7 Beta 1 would be ready "early next year." A Microsoft insider has now confirmed the actual date, which is indeed very early next year. In a comment on his blog, Keith Combs has revealed that Windows 7 Beta 1 will be available on or around January 13, 2009.

Keith’s post links to a promotional announcement for the MSDN Developer Conference series, where every registrant “will receive a Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD.” The first event in the MSDN series is next week, on December 9, in Houston. So does that mean the next Windows 7 beta will be ready for public distribution this month? According to Keith, the answer is no:

My understanding is that the DVD will not be ready for the first few show dates but will be mailed to each attendee. 

We are targeting to have the DVD's in the materials from 1/13/2009 on.

So I would imagine the folks attending the Houston, Orlando and Atlanta shows this month will receive their DVD's around mid January as well.  That's an assumption on my part.  Could be earlier or later, but they will get them.

Reading between the lines, I'll predict publicly what I've been saying privately for the last month or so: Windows 7 Beta 1 will be publicly unveiled at CES. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is giving the pre-CES keynote address on January 7, 2009, the night before the show opens (Bill Gates has had this time slot for the past few years). There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Ballmer will be showing off Windows 7 at CES. It's reasonable to assume that Microsoft will provide an early update to key media sources, including reviewers who attended the Microsoft-sponsored workshop at PDC in October.

Any public release would come only after that first demo, which makes the January 13 date a nearly perfect fit for public availability.

An even better indicator? As members of Microsoft's Windows team know, they have an uncanny ability to release major updates while I'm on vacation. Next year, I've decided to skip CES and head for a tropical beach. My vacation ends on ... January 13.