Windows 7 may be hitting shop shelves sooner than you think. Microsoft’s latest operating system will be ready to roll this October, if we are to believe the information published by a British tech site suggests.

The report, posted on Thursday at Pocket Lint, cites a U.K.-based Acer representative as saying Windows 7 will ship with the company’s upcoming Z5600 all-in-one PC starting on October 23. The Z5600 will actually become available in late September, the spokesperson is quoted as saying. Customers who purchase it during that first month will be offered a free Windows 7 upgrade after the release, he says.

If it happens, it will be much earlier than the company’s claimed date of January 2010 and it might bump up Microsoft’s fortunes in the marketplace.