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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just4U - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
I thought they were making it so you couldn't do that BSMonitor.. ??? (moving back to a more traditional interface I mean..) I read that a few months ago.SlyNine - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
I wouldn't mind at all, if I could make it the default. I like the windows environment. I think their are plenty of people like me, that doesn't want to spend time navigating to windows and would rather it just pop right up.Omoronovo - Saturday, July 21, 2012 - link
The issue is you have no choice, unlike what you said in your last sentence. You can still USE the desktop, you simply have no choice in whether or not to use the metro interface for launching applications not pinned to the taskbar.Additionally, you can change a setting to have it default to the desktop, but Microsoft int heir ultimate wisdom disabled it from functioning in all but server 2012.
p05esto - Saturday, July 21, 2012 - link
You must be a MS PR troll. No Anandtech reader would say they like using win8 on the desktop.... I have not yet met a single advanced computer user who thinks Win8 UI is a step forward from any perspective. Different yes, better? NO WAY.Belard - Sunday, July 22, 2012 - link
It wouldn't be the first time... :)I remember catching an HP PR Troll last year who was on Tomshardware and Bestbuy websites. He posted the exact same PR garbage about how he couldn't wait to buy the HP Touchpad and all its glorious features, how fast and beautiful it is... blah blah.
His posts were removed from Toms' :)
Belard - Sunday, July 22, 2012 - link
PS: I like all the improvements added to Windows8... it runs great out of the "box"... what I HATE about Win8 negates everything good about it.1 - Metro, shoved down your throat - no matter how many times you say no.
2 - Hidden half-ass start button (why hide a button you need to push with your finger or mouse click?)
3 - Metro-ized desktop UI, all the buttons are there, just flat and ugly... with no option for Win7 style. *
4 - No retail version
5 - 5-pak OEM versions - ONLY! MS wants to kill off the DIY.
* Aero in Win8 v.8440 looks quite nice, they toned down the shading/3D effect and it looks smooth and slick. I thought it looks very nice... gone.
I will NOT ever install Win8 on my computers, even if it was a free legit copy.
jnr0077 - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
hahahahahha love it i was starting to think why have they made a terrible os then it hit me they wanna make more money so they tryed to make it look like appleI will NOT ever install Win8 on my computers, even if it was a free copy without them charging you top cash for a rubbish os
SlyNine - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
What is so innovative about this??? What can this do that windows couldn't????I really don't want my desktop PC to feel like I'm using a phone.
jnr0077 - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
never mind that they gonna try and charge money to wtf :) totally agree with you nice 1 :)HisDivineOrder - Thursday, July 19, 2012 - link
...that they don't have a lot of confidence in this product. I don't blame them. There's a lot of hatred out there. And a lot of great reasons for it. Now I'm also of the opinion that charging $100+ for an upgrade to a license you already own is and was always ridiculous, but I guess they could get away with it because we were the idiots buying it.Now in a world where iOS and Android upgrades happen behind the scenes for free, where OS X is $20 for an upgrade, they feel they can ONLY mark the upgrade pricing up by 100% over OS X and sell it for $40 (for a limited time).
I predict they extend this pricing longer than just the timeframe they've set so far. I also suspect they'll find a lot of success from people who just upgrade because, "Well, I can DEAL with it and it's 'only' $40!" I'm sure by then I'll probably fall into that category. I don't like a lot of things about Windows 8 (mostly loss of start menu which was more ideal to me on a 2560x1600 screen since it didn't swallow up the whole screen to give me an app list or lose me the precision of a start button versus "that corner", lack of customization and the deliberate, active intent of MS to limit ability to make your own start button impossible, shoving Windows app store in my face to replace true multitasking with bitasking as if that's superior).
Despite that, Windows 8 does have some things I'd like. The kernel will better support AMD-style CPU cores and potentially all hyperthreading, it has a lot better file transfer messages and functionality (ability to pause certain transfers to let other transfers happen first which I could replicate with a third party application though I find myself not trusting them as much), and I don't mind the ribbon (that can be minimized) functionality of Explorer since it seems to take up less space (minimized). I don't mind so much the loss of Aero since transparency and translucency were things I typically disabled anyway on Windows 7, but taking away the option to have it is a loss (even if it's not one to me).
Given all of the bad press and the likelihood that people are going to upgrade and be very shocked, horrified, annoyed by the things that take longer to do or take up more space on Windows 8 than they did on Windows 7.
So a $40 price is probably the most they could charge and still have customers not screaming on every forum, every board, every youtube blog they could find.