Microsoft Corp. formally unveiled Thursday its newest operating system, Windows 7, as the software giant hopes to breath new life into its Operating System product line.

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.

Software Microsoft Steve Ballmer