AppleInsider Staff
The Redmond, Wash., software giant announced at its Worldwide Partner Conference on Monday that Windows 8 is on track to release to manufacturing in the first week of August, and will reach general availability by the end of October. That means new Windows 8 PCs will hit the market the same month.
Windows Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller also announced that Windows 8 will be available in 109 languages across 231 markets worldwide. Customers will also be able to upgrade their existing Windows PCs to Windows 8 when it goes on sale in October.
Earlier reports had suggested Microsoft was eyeing an October launch for its next-generation operating system, but Monday marks the first official confirmation from the company that Windows 8 will in fact debut in October. No specific date in the month has been set.
Apple, meanwhile, is set to launch its own next-generation operating system, Mountain Lion, this month. No specific date has been given for Mountain Lion either, but it will debut in the Mac App Store for $19.99.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview. | Source: Microsoft
In addition to Windows 8, Microsoft will also launch Windows RT, its new ARM-based operating system designed for tablet devices, in October. Presumably the company's new Surface tablet hardware will also launch that same month and take on Apple's new iPad for the holiday buying season.
October could prove to be a particularly busy month for the technology industry, as multiple reports have suggested Apple plans to launch its next iPhone that same month, one year after the debut of the iPhone 4S. Apple is also expected to introduce a new, smaller iPad before the end of the year that is rumored to become available ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Charles Martin
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54 Comments
So now Apple knows when to ramp up Mac production. Thanks, Microsoft! People are going to hate Windows 8. You can't take the Start Menu away from the average Windows user. They'll go insane. And they won't know how to turn their computer off anymore.
[quote name="Tallest Skil" url="/t/151178/microsoft-announces-windows-8-will-launch-in-october#post_2143166"]So now Apple knows when to ramp up Mac production. Thanks, Microsoft![/QUOTE] I hope they new Macs and a new Mac-focused advertising campaign ready. [QUOTE]People are going to hate Windows 8. You can't take the Start Menu away from the average Windows user. They'll go insane. And they won't know how to turn their computer off anymore.[/quote] I thought it was still there if you know the secret key combination.
So now Apple knows when to ramp up Mac production. Thanks, Microsoft!
People are going to hate Windows 8. You can't take the Start Menu away from the average Windows user. They'll go insane. And they won't know how to turn their computer off anymore.
Yup, Gladys in Accounts Payable is gonna have a coronary if she can't find the link to Quicken anymore in her Start Menu.
And just wait 'till some guy in the executive suite spends half an hour trying to figure out how to start Powerpoint. That'll be a career ender for any CTO's dumb enough to deploy this turkey, as well as the death knell for Windows 8.
Leave it to Microsoft to rearrange the deck chairs on their Titanic and inconvenience millions of users in the process.
I predict #hate8 will become a trending Twitter tag within hours of the new OS's release...
[quote name="Tallest Skil" url="/t/151178/microsoft-announces-windows-8-will-launch-in-october#post_2143166"]So now Apple knows when to ramp up Mac production. Thanks, Microsoft! People are going to hate Windows 8. You can't take the Start Menu away from the average Windows user. They'll go insane. And they won't know how to turn their computer off anymore.[/quote] It is very annoying to use isn't it? A friend of mine running the beta got stuck in an app or what ever those tiles lead to and couldn't find a way out (I know you hover mouse at far right but he didn't) and he got so angry trying to get back the desktop that he slammed the PC's lid down hard, the PC laptop fell off his desk onto the tiles and smashed it. I only know about this as he called and asked me which MacBook was best the next day on his way to buy one.
[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/151178/microsoft-announces-windows-8-will-launch-in-october#post_2143172"] I thought it was still there if you know the secret key combination.[/quote] I have the perfect ad. A Mac user working away with a soft piano music in the background. VO ... "Macs are familiar, easy and enjoyable to use". Scene cuts to a man jumping up and down screaming "How do I get to the fracking desktop?" VO ... " Windows 8 not so much ..."