Microsoft has announced its long awaited new operating system, Windows 8, will be available starting 26th October this year.
In the company’s blog post, communications manager Brandon LeBlanc said, "Just a few minutes ago, Steven Sinofsky announced at Microsoft’s annual sales meeting that customers will be able to get Windows 8 – whether in upgrade fashion or on a new PC – starting on October 26th."
Earlier this month at the Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Windows CMO and CFO Tami Reller said that Windows 8 is on track to "release to manufacturing (RTM)" in the first week in August, with general availability at the end of October 2012.
Reller said this means starting in October, Windows 8 and a version of the Windows 8 operating system for ARM devices, known as Windows RT based PCs will be available to buy, and upgrades will be available.
The Windows Store, which will offer Windows 8-based apps, will go live in tandem with the release to manufacturing of Windows 8.
Windows 8 features a new user interface based on Microsoft’s Metro design language, similar to that of the Windows Phone operating system and is designed to suit touchscreen input, along with traditional mouse and keyboard input.
Windows RT adds support for the ARM processor architecture in addition to the previously supported x86 microprocessors from Intel, AMD and VIA.
The company noted that Windows 8 will be offered in 109 languages across 231 markets worldwide.
Microsoft also reported that more than 630 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold to date, and that more than half of enterprise desktops are running Windows 7, shipped in October 2009.
