With Windows 7's release now official, thoughts in the industry now look toward the hardware world. Manufacturers of the computer components and systems that will run the OS are placing big bets on Windows 7’s potential impact on the sale of new computer systems.

“I think everybody is ready and waiting,” Margaret Lewis, director of software solutions at AMD, tells Channel Insider. “We can let the buying begin. Windows 7 is a good OS. Microsoft has done a good job.”

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She points out that much of the hardware today is designed to work with Windows 7 to provide even better capabilities and energy efficiency, including better graphics capabilities for users including gamers. The hardware is also optimized for virtualization, something key for Windows 7 because of the new OS’s Windows XP mode that enables 32-bit applications to run without the issues that plagued them in Windows Vista.

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And today’s more energy-efficient processors are designed to work more closely with the new Microsoft operating system to create even greater power savings which can translate to better battery life – something that’s important to mobile users.

While the first wave of Windows 7 systems may be aimed at small businesses and at consumers, PC maker Lenovo is offering a channel promotion to help kick off the launch of the new operating system.

Lenovo is offering a training and education program on Windows 7 and Lenovo PCs to U.S. business partners focusing on the benefits of the OS and how Lenovo PCs are optimized for it. Lenovo says the goal is to train a significant number of business partners in order to help accelerate adoption of Win7 on Lenovo PCs.

Partners who pass the test at the end of the course will receive a free copy of Windows 7 and be entered into a drawing for products, including the new ThinkPad SL510 laptop for SMB, Microsoft Zune MP3 players and Office 2007. The program began on Oct. 12 and runs through Dec 31, or after the first 4,000 participants.

More than 100 reseller partners at D&H’s MidAtlantic Show earlier this month packed into a standing-room-only auditorium to hear Microsoft talk about the new operating system and how to sell and implement it. Partners at the event were already well versed on Windows XP mode and its benefits.

But overall, while reseller channel partners at the event were enthusiastic about the operating system, they said they didn’t expect it to spur significant sales in 2009.