Windows 8 was one of the biggest topics of discussion at CES 2012. The next version of Microsoft"s operating system was the subject of a number of announcements at the trade show. We"ve already posted up some impressions of a pre-beta build for Windows 8 on a tablet device.
The biggest question currently surrounding Windows 8 is when will Microsoft launch the final commercial version of the OS. Microsoft has already said it will release a beta version to the public sometime before the end of February. At CES 2012 this week, Pocket-Lint.com got what appears to be a huge hint about what Microsoft is at least thinking about when it comes to a final Windows 8 release date.
Janelle Poole, the director of public relations of the Windows Business Group, is quoted as saying:
We haven"t talked about the release date and we generally don"t. We are talking milestone to milestone, so for us right now we"re talking about the next milestone being the consumer preview happening in late February.
Sounds like a "no comment" line, right? Then Poole adds:
One of the things that I think is a good guideline though is we"ve always said that Windows releases come round about every three years and this year will be three years in October since we launched Windows 7. So I think that"s a good guideline to consider.
So based on Poole"s comments, the "guideline" for the company"s Windows 8 release is sometime in October 2012. Of course plans can and sometime do change; for example, the consumer version of Windows Vista actually launched at the end of January 2007. However, it"s seems safe to say that Microsoft is at least thinking about an October time frame for the Windows 8 launch.