Windows 8 Set to Debut October 26

The operating system will release to manufacturing in August.

Windows 8, Microsoft's radically different operating system that combines traditional usage scenarios with mobile device functionality, has a final delivery date.

According to a Windows Team blog post made Wednesday, the official release date for Windows 8 will be Oct. 26, 2012.

Microsoft had previously announced that Windows 8's general availability (GA) launch date would be October.

According to the blog post, Microsoft's President of the Windows and Windows Live Division Steven Sinofsky made the announcement today at a Microsoft sales conference. "Customers will be able to get Windows 8 – whether in upgrade fashion or on a new PC – starting on October 26."

Last week Microsoft announced that upgrades to Windows 8 will cost $40.

Of specific interest to developers is Windows 8's new runtime, called WinRT (or Windows RunTime). The runtime offers several development options: an HTML5/JavaScript/CSS3 environment for those familiar with Web development tools, or XAML and some combination of the C#, Visual Basic or C++ languages.

Windows 8 is a hybrid operating system meant to run on several types of processors:

  • The ARM version, for touch-enabled mobile devices like Windows Phone and tablets like the recently-announced Surface
  • Traditional Intel and AMD chips, which will run a desktop version for more full-featured applications.

The user interface for Windows on ARM will be based on "Metro" design, which Microsoft calls a "fast and fluid" UI. Most Microsoft-focused developers will be using Visual Studio 2012 to build Windows 8 software. VS 2012 is currently at release candidate (RC) stage. A free version, Visual Studio Express 2012 RC for Windows 8, is available for download.

Windows 8 itself is at release preview stage, and will release to manufacturing in August.

For more recent news and coverage of Windows 8, go here.

Visual Studio Magazine Editor-in-Chief Keith Ward contributed to this story.

About the Author

Becky Nagel serves as vice president of AI for 1105 Media specializing in developing media, events and training for companies around AI and generative AI technology. She also regularly writes and reports on AI news, and is the founding editor of PureAI.com. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Users" and other popular AI resources with a real-world business perspective. She regularly speaks, writes and develops content around AI, generative AI and other business tech. She has a background in Web technology and B2B enterprise technology journalism.

comments powered by Disqus

Featured

  • Mastering Blazor Authentication and Authorization

    At the Visual Studio Live! @ Microsoft HQ developer conference set for August, Rockford Lhotka will explain the ins and outs of authentication across Blazor Server, WebAssembly, and .NET MAUI Hybrid apps, and show how to use identity and claims to customize application behavior through fine-grained authorization.

  • Linear Support Vector Regression from Scratch Using C# with Evolutionary Training

    Dr. James McCaffrey from Microsoft Research presents a complete end-to-end demonstration of the linear support vector regression (linear SVR) technique, where the goal is to predict a single numeric value. A linear SVR model uses an unusual error/loss function and cannot be trained using standard simple techniques, and so evolutionary optimization training is used.

  • Low-Code Report Says AI Will Enhance, Not Replace DIY Dev Tools

    Along with replacing software developers and possibly killing humanity, advanced AI is seen by many as a death knell for the do-it-yourself, low-code/no-code tooling industry, but a new report belies that notion.

  • Vibe Coding with Latest Visual Studio Preview

    Microsoft's latest Visual Studio preview facilitates "vibe coding," where developers mainly use GitHub Copilot AI to do all the programming in accordance with spoken or typed instructions.

  • Steve Sanderson Previews AI App Dev: Small Models, Agents and a Blazor Voice Assistant

    Blazor creator Steve Sanderson presented a keynote at the recent NDC London 2025 conference where he previewed the future of .NET application development with smaller AI models and autonomous agents, along with showcasing a new Blazor voice assistant project demonstrating cutting-edge functionality.

Subscribe on YouTube