Windows 7 now 'simpler, faster': Ballmer

"I'm Steve Ballmer and I'm a Windows 7 PC," said the Microsoft CEO at the Manhattan launch.

According to Ballmer, the idea behind the new OS is to make computing "simpler, faster, more responsive." He said the product was a result of an "intense collaboration" between Microsoft and its partners - 50,000 software, hardware, and peripheral vendors, as well as 8 million beta testers.

"Windows needs to be an incredible opportunity for innovation, for hardware companies [and] software companies, and it needs to be a place that is simple and easy to use and opens up the world of diverse innovation ... in a way that is manageable and consumable by billions of people around the world," Ballmer said.

In terms of sales, Microsoft expects to sell 300 million Windows-based PCs this year. Around  45,000 retailers across the world are already stocked with Windows 7.

Microsoft has six different versions; Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, and Windows 7 Ultimate, with Microsoft charging consumers between $119 and $219.

 Windows 7 Home Basic will also be sold, but only to emerging markets.

Overall, Ballmer says that Windows 7 is faster than its predecessor Windows Vista.

"The things that you do all the time need to be simpler," Ballmer said. "You want to manage the windows on your desktop [and] make that stuff super, super simple." Ballmer says that Windows 7 now has the solutions for these needs.

According to PC World, Microsoft also announced that next month, Amazon will launch a beta version of the Kindle Reader for Windows 7, which will allow users to peruse books using multi-touch. Users will be able to scroll through a book with the touch of a finger, and zoom in or out by pinching the screen.