Windows 8 Gets A Launch Date: October 26th
by Ryan Smith on July 19, 2012 12:15 AM ESTAfter previously announcing that Windows 8 would have a retail launch sometime in late October, Microsoft has nailed down a final date: Friday, October 26th. The launch on a Friday instead of a Thursday or Sunday is a bit of an odd move, but this is otherwise consistent with Microsoft's previous launches. The only real unknown at this point is when Microsoft will start taking pre-orders - Windows 7 saw fairly early pre-orders as part of a two-week pre-order promotion, but Windows 8's equivalent promotion runs until 2013.
Meanwhile Windows 8 is still on track to RTM in the first week of August, which means the OS will actually be finished within a couple of weeks. Since the Windows 8 Release Preview wasn't technically feature complete and Microsoft still hasn't gone into great detail about Windows 8's new and unnamed desktop visual theme that will be replacing Aero, RTM leaks will likely be our first chance to see the new theme in action.
Source: Microsoft
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frostyfiredude - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
Nice, now they just need to get the price for the full license out there.powerarmour - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
Isn't it upgrade only?, I thought they were canning the full retail option...tipoo - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
For RT, the tablet versionfrostyfiredude - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
There will still be a system builder licenseSlyNine - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
My guess is it will flop. I think people will want the tradition desktop. People will not want to learn new shortcut keys, and having to navigate to the desktop. If vista's UAC was to much of a change, this will be disastrous.Malih - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
It looks like Microsoft considers Windows 8 as the Vista 2.0, they're releasing it as a bridge to Windows 9, or maybe after a year or so they'll release a Service Pack that'll significantly make everything better, or a (really) cheap upgrade to Windows 9.I guess they're thinking that you can only truly know what the public wants by feedback of the release, just like what Apple did with OS X Lion, it's stable and usable, got lots of new features that's useful (just like Vista), but there's also dissatisfaction, and feedbacks, and then comes Mountain Lion a year after it.
(I used Vista after release of the SP1, the installation lasted until Q2 of 2010, and It was stable and usable enough for me, despite what articles said.)
damianrobertjones - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
My guess is that it'll be a success. Nor you or I decide these things... It's the kids. Once the k ids think it's cool then the adults follow like sheep.SlyNine - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
I've seen stranger things happen. I will be buying 2 copies of Windows 7 just in case.jkostans - Saturday, July 21, 2012 - link
I think it will do well. If it doesn't break backwards compatibility from windows 7 then I will be completely on board. I had a tough time going from XP to W7 x64 trying to get older games/hardware to work right(desktop application). Thank god for DosBox and the kxaudio people. If there ever exists a touchscreen laptop with a good keyboard/trackpad that can be removed I will jump on that in a heartbeat. Surface with the "type" cover seems like a good solution, just have to wait for the reviews to roll in.BSMonitor - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
Honestly, this is the most innovative approach to an new OS Microsoft has come up with since moving fully to a GUI interface and mouse.. Since the release of Windows 95 and its subsequent merger with the NT kernel in Windows XP, each new version of Windows has simply taken what Windows does already, and try to make it better... Cough cough, I did say TRY.With the wind blowing toward portable touch UI, Microsoft is making a truly bold attempt to merge all the trending markets into one common UI. i.e. Windows Phone 8 will feel like Windows Tablet interfaces will feel like Windows 8 PC interfaces... All three devices will simply feel like smaller or larger version of the same computing experience.
Will it work?? Hopefully.. After all, if you don't like the new touch/homepage, you can opt for the normal Windows 7 look.