Microsoft announces Windows 8 will launch in October
With OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion set to arrive this month, Apple's latest operating system will become available at least two months earlier than Microsoft's competing Windows 8.
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.
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.
Comments
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.
I thought it was still there if you know the secret key combination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
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...
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.
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 ..."
They hid it in beside a bunch of 'charms' it seems:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/29/2832943/windows-8-new-start-button-hands-on-pictures-video
Ctrl-alt-del will do it too though.
For a company that makes most of its money from Windows, you think they'd be able to do a decent job with it by now and have a consistent UI.
Two methods exist that I know. One, the Windows key on the keyboard. The other, you can also mouse over to the right edge of the screen and a little panel will slide out. Why not the left edge or top edge? I do not know. On this slide out, you will also see that is where they hide a link to the control panel. The side drawer is hard to activate while in a virtual machine.
That said, I don't like that method much. I don't like Windows 7's neutered start menu either, but at least I can work around the reasons why I don't like it a little better. If one had to have Windows, I'd rather pay $140 for W7 than take the $40 deal for W8. The start menu pushing Bing services, while nice, the pushy nature didn't sit well with me. I think they really failed the first impression on Windows 8. It didn't endear me to stick with it and get comfortable with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalclips
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 ..."
Windows 8... Some ideas are so bad they simply 'unsell' themselves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
Windows 8... Some ideas are so bad they simply 'unsell' themselves.
And...MS has announced a date. Can anyone tell us when they launched on their announced date? This should be interesting....
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunspot42
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.
If you are in the Metro UI, all you have to do is start typing the program's name. It doesn't even matter where the mouse is at the time. If employees can't figure that out the company is doomed. Although I doubt it will matter much. Most businesses will probably stick with Win 7 for awhile.
-kpluck
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
So now Apple knows when to ramp up Mac production. Thanks, Microsoft!
Sometimes I wonder how much common sense you have for a moderator. Every Windows Release since XP has been in the October Timeframe, this is hardly some surprise or golden nugget.
It does seem reliable, and apart from UI complaints, like it is a shippable product. Unless they backtrack because of the flak, I think there's a good chance of making it.
In the beginning, there was a Registry fix to get the Start Menu back. MS killed it. The Start Menu is Metro only. It is also true, shutting down a PC will be more difficult. I am low vision, and that is the ONLY reason I have a PC now. My iMac is sadly gathering dust. The W8 desktop is more efficient and faster than W7, but that is all. The Facebook and Twitter users MAY like Metro, but I am guessing Enterprise folks will hate it. I can see my very low-res PC with Windows 7. I need a 27 inch iMac, running at either 1080 or 720 vertical resolution. Without bending the NDA rules, what are my chances in ML? Is HiDPI only for retina displays?
deleted
You give the common user far too much credit
Quote:
Originally Posted by kpluck
If you are in the Metro UI, all you have to do is start typing the program's name.
-kpluck
And Gladys in Accounts Payable is gonna know this HOW?
Like I said, Microsoft is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. They're "fixing" things that weren't broken in the first place...
Have they finally done away with that idiotic, corruption prone, virus loving Registry of theirs?
It will be the start of the next generation of 'I'm a Mac, I'm a PC' ads
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
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.
They usually turn off by themselves.