“Microsoft’s introduction of Windows 7 later this month won’t cost Apple any Mac sales, a Wall Street analyst said today,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld.

“‘I analyzed the impact of the last four Windows launches and found no negative correlation between them and Mac sales,’ said Brian Marshall of Broadpoint AmTech. ‘In fact, [Microsoft's launches] almost act like a delayed accelerant on Mac sales,’” Keizer reports.

“After comparing Mac sales with the launches of Windows 98 in June 1998, Windows 2000 (February 2000), Windows XP (October 2001) and Vista (January 2007), Marshall found that in all but the case of Windows 2000, Mac sales either increased or stayed steady,” Keizer reports.

“Mac sales jumped the most after Vista’s introduction, according to Marshall’s analysis, which many experts attributed to some Windows users’ switching to Macs after they were disappointed by Vista’s poor performance or put off by its lackluster reviews,” Keizer reports.

“Apple will announce sales figures for the calendar quarter that ended Sept. 30 next Monday during a conference call with reporters and analysts,” Keizer reports. “Marshall expects that Apple will then claim it sold approximately 2.8 million Macs in the July-September quarter, which would represent a 7% increase over the same period last year.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "souch3" for the heads up.]