Microsoft would not comment on this date or locale.

In the meantime, on Monday Microsoft continued to prime the pump, posting images of the new packaging to several company blogs like this one. And this one.

Resellers and integrators are all a-tingle to start implementing these bits for real. If you make your living selling and supporting new stuff, it helps to have new stuff to sell and support. Many of these guys have been chomping at the bit for more than a year.

Truth to tell, many users could care less: What corporate PC user do you know who enjoys upgrades?

But Microsoft's worldwide channel chief begs to differ. She says many customers are as jazzed about getting and using the new bits as any VAR.

Allison Watson says there is plenty of customer pent-up demand for the Office 2007, Vista, SharePoint 2007, Exchange 2007 wave which obviously poses huge opportunities for Microsoft's channel. Any Gold or Certified Microsoft partner who hasn't done so already should get his or her information into Microsoft's Solution Finder online catalog Watson says.

She cites Microsoft predictions that a whopping 225 million new PCs will be sold next year and that 56 percent of the existing PC base is Vista-capable.

Whether that means those PCS are enabled with the latest-and-greatest graphics chip to take full advantage of new interface perks was unclear however.

She also noted that if pre-launch downloads are any indication, the new products will be hits. Three million downloads of the Vista beta, two million of early Office 2007 bits and 500,000 of Exchange 2007 beta have crossed the wires in the last year, Watson said.

First priority on Watson's "Call To Action" is for partners to get themselves to this Microsoft launch central site and find out--if they don't already know--what it will take to get ready.

This post was updated Tuesday morning with the Launch Central link.