Top Windows executive Bill Veghte has said he's telling PC makers the OS might ship in time for Christmas 2009, and it might not

Top Windows executive Bill Veghte has said the company is telling PC makers that Windows 7 may or may not be ready in time for 2009's Christmas season.

"I'm telling them that it could go either way," Veghte told ZDNet UK's sister site, CNET News.com, in an interview on Wednesday. "We will ship it when the quality is right, and earlier is always better, but not at the cost of ecosystem support and not at the cost of quality.

Veghte also said the economy is factoring into his marketing plans for Windows, which is in the middle of an advertising push initially estimated at several hundred million dollars over several years.

"Given the economic situation, as shareholders would expect us to tighten our belt, but with the things that are most important, and customers would expect us to do that while continuing to innovate," he said. "The expectation is that the dollar we spend on advertising today will go further than it did in July... and the Windows business is pretty core to Microsoft, it's core to the Microsoft brand, so we will continue to invest in support of Windows."

Asked whether he thought the same applied to the unit's staffing level, he said Windows is core to the success of the company, but added that he's "certainly looking at how we can be more efficient, and given the mission in our advertising spending… efficient in where we apply our headcount and efficient, but not at the risk of jeopardising the opportunity that we have".

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