Microsoft said it continues to target that schedule for Vista, but said the final delivery date will depend on the product's quality

Microsoft releases on friday last test version of its upcoming Vista operating system and said the launch will be on schedule. This release is distributed to testers only.

"Microsoft expects the RC2 build to be the last interim release before the product is released to manufacturing," the company said.

Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund said Microsoft will most likely ship Vista on time and distribute RC2 this week or next week, indicating that the Windows upgrade will be available for business customers in November and retail PCs by late January.