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Here at HEXUS, we're assuming Microsoft will hold out a few days and launch the beta during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CES 2009 kicks off on January 8th, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will get the show started with a pre-CES keynote on January 7th at 6:30pm. With the tech world watching, what better time to launch the Windows 7 beta?

But why is the beta significant? Unlike Windows Vista, 7's beta won't be available in numerous builds. According to reports, Microsoft is so confident in 7's stability that the first beta won't be followed by beta 2, beta 3 and so on. Following the one-and-only beta, Microsoft then plans to launch a release candidate (RC), followed finally by the retail version.

Not the schedule you'd expect for a software launch that's said to be over a year away, and Microsoft has a good reason to speed up the launch process; low-cost computers.