Windows 8 to Arrive October 26

Both the upgrade and new PC versions will be available on this date

Hold onto your shorts, Microsoft fans -- Windows 8 has an official release date, and it's October 26. 

Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky announced the fall launch date today at the tech giant's annual sales meeting. Both the upgrade and new PC versions will be available on this date. 

Windows 8 has been a long time coming. Its development began before Windows 7 even shipped in 2009, but the operating system was officially unveiled on June 1, 2011. 

Later, in September 2011, Microsoft revealed the Windows Developer Preview for building Metro style UI applications during the BUILD conference. In February 2012, the Windows 8 Consumer Preview was finally released, and in May, the Windows 8 Release Preview was unleashed. 

A prominent feature of Windows 8 is the new Metro style user interface, which offers a tile-based Start screen where each tile represents an application. The colorful, more playful UI has received mixed reviews from many who say it's either a refreshing change or a disgrace to the Windows name. 

Microsoft plans to place Windows 8 on many devices from PCs to Windows Phone to its upcoming tablet entry called Surface. The new tablet is set to feature a 10.6-inch screen, a 3 mm case that doubles as a thin keyboard, pen-input technology called digital ink, a 9.3 mm frame, and Wi-Fi only at launch. There will be two versions of the Surface tablet: the Windows RT model with a Tegra 3 processor and 32/64 GB SSD options, and the Windows 8 Pro model with Intel's Core i5 Ivy Bridge processors and 64/128 GB SSD options. 

It was announced last week that Microsoft was planning an October release, but now, those eagerly awaiting a new Windows 8 machine can rest assure that an exact day is set. 

Source: Windows Blog