Microsoft has revealed a general release date for its upcoming operating system Windows Vista--5 December, 2006.

Speaking to IT professionals, parliamentarians and senior law-enforcement officers at the Parliament and Internet conference in London on Thursday, Microsoft revealed its release plans.

"We will officially launch Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 on 5 December," said David Hipwell, a Windows client sales professional at Microsoft.

Microsoft had originally slated Vista for a 2006 fourth quarter release, then revised Vista's estimated time of arrival to January 2007. Thursday's statement firmly pushed the general release date back into the original pre-Christmas slot. The business version of Vista (Vista Business) is still expected in November.