Microsoft makes it official after months of speculation: tablets and PCs running Windows 8, the new OS, will be in stores in time for the holiday shopping season, more precisely starting with October. According to Tami Reller, CFO for Microsoft's Windows group, at Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, the operating system will be released to manufacturing in the first week of August, for business customers (volume licensees with Software Assurance) and the fresh personal systems running the software will be generally available by the end of October. This also means that Windows Server 2012 will be also released in the first week of August, but the server bits won't be available to customers until September.
Windows 8, Generally Available In Late October
Enterprises will be able to start downloading final Windows 8 bits in August too. For the moment, we know that Windows 8 will be available in 105 languages in more than 200 markets, probably Microsoft will dos some spells on last minute to include more features.
The new operating system will be available in four editions: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise and Windows 8 RT. The last is Microsoft's official name for Windows On ARM, which will run on tablet chips manufactured by Qualcomm, Motorola and Nvidia. It's delicate to propose just four categories of OS, when everybody was used Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise. It's obvious that simple Windows 8 includes Starter and Home Basic, but where does Home Premium start or Ultimate?
Windows 8, Generally Available In Late October
As far as you can remember users of Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 can purchase and download Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 .This upgrade program, which starts in October and runs through January 31, 2013, also lets users install Windows Media Center for free, once they've completed the upgrade. Indeed, Microsoft understood the lesson offered by Google, which lets users have something more, as mark of their loyalty.
The upgrade experience will be different though, depending on which version of Windows users are currently running. Windows 7 to Windows 8 offers the most comfortable upgrade, as users' settings, personal files and apps will remain intact. From Windows Vista, settings and personal files are preserved, and from XP, only personal files will make the jump, although apps can be reinstalled after the upgrade is complete.
Windows 8, Generally Available In Late October
Microsoft's push to get users onto Windows 8 isn't surprising, it's the big promise to itself. The latest operating system represents the biggest break with previous versions, since the debut of Windows 95, which introduced the classical Start button or Task Bar. Windows 8 is a spectacular metamorphosis, replacing the Start screen with Live Tiles, part of Microsoft's new Metro interface. Microsoft is counting on Metro to give its products a glamorous look, resembling to smartphones or tablets.
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