Steve Ballmer Kicks Off Most Significant Product Launch in Microsoft's History is the press release with more on the news, noted in an earlier Tech Bit, that Windows Vista is now available to volume licensing customers, along with the 2007 edition of Microsoft Office. Here's a bit from the announcement, which likely confirms the newest edition of MS's OS will make its most recent consumer release date of January 2007:

NEW YORK, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At a press conference at NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer announced the business availability of the Windows Vista(TM) operating system, the 2007 release of Microsoft® Office, and a host of other new product offerings designed to enable businesses to thrive in a world of instant communication, expanding information and constant change.

Today's announcement that Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office release are available to volume licensing customers marks the beginning of the most significant product launch in company history and the first simultaneous release of Microsoft's flagship products since the joint launch of the Windows® 95 operating system and Office 95 more than a decade ago. Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system will be available to consumers and organizations without volume license agreements on Jan. 30. In addition to Windows Vista and the 2007 release of Office, Ballmer discussed more than 30 new offerings for business customers. A complete list is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/default.mspx .