Windows 8 To Be Released In October
Insiders say work will finish on the operating system this summer, with roadmap details revealed in April
Microsoft is on track to finish work on Windows 8 this summer, ahead of a release in October, according to reports.
The newest version of the operating system is the first to be designed for both Intel and ARM-manufactured chips and will launch on devices built on either architecture.
On track
According to Bloomberg’s sources, who do not wish to be named as the information is still confidential, Microsoft will host an event for its industry partners in early April and will reveal its release strategy for Windows 8, specifically timing and marketing.
It is hoped that an October release will allow it to take advantage of the Christmas market, to regain sales lost to the likes of the iPad and revitalise a slowing PC market. Microsoft has shown an increasing focus on the mobile and tablet markets amid fears that tablet sales could soon surpass those of PCS, just as smartphones have already done.
Microsoft pledges that the operating system will work equally well with both tablets and traditional PCs, with users able to switch between a tiled interface and a more recognisable desktop mode, in an effort to give the company a potential inroad into the tablet market.
Despite promising to support both Intel and ARM-based devices, there will be just five ARM devices (three of them tablets) at launch compared to more than 40 Intel machines. This has apparently been put down to the fact that Microsoft is strictly limiting the number of launch systems and has set quality control standards.
No previous version of Windows has supported ARM architecture, but Microsoft sees Windows 8 on ARM as vital to its long term strategy for tablets and mobile devices.
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