During Microsoft’s annual worldwide partner conference, the company confirmed that Windows 8 would be available to the general public by the end of October. Microsoft chief marketing and chief financial officer Tami Reller announced that the new operating system is scheduled to reach the manufacturing stage in the first week of August.
Enterprise customers with software assurance benefits have been promised full access to Windows 8 bits around the same time manufacturing begins, and Windows 8 PCs and Windows RT tablets will begin shipping in October. Retail upgrades will be made available to current PC users.
Reller said that over 630 million Windows 7 licenses had been sold to date, and that more than half of enterprise desktops are running that operating system. Windows 8 will be made available in three separate packages on launch. Two are designed for x86 processors, with the third being targeted for ARM-powered devices. Basic features of all three include touch-screen capability, keyboard and mouse support, and all the general capabilities of Windows and Metro-style apps. The ARM version, meant to be run on tablets, will come packaged with touch-optimized versions of Microsoft’s signature office programs, but will not be able to run standard Windows applications designed for x86 processors and operating systems.
