Microsoft released Windows 8 to manufacturers today, a symbolic milestone that shows the operating system is complete.
“Today marks an important milestone in the Windows 8 project. The Windows 8 team is proud to share with you that a short while ago we started releasing Windows 8 to PC OEM and manufacturing partners,” wrote Steven Sinofsky, the president of Microsoft’s Windows group, in a Wednesday blog post. “This means our next milestone will be the availability of exciting new models of PCs loaded with Windows 8 and online availability of Windows 8 on October 26, 2012.”
“While we have reached our [release to manufacturer] milestone, no software project is ever really ‘done,’ ” Mr. Sinofsky continued. “We will continue to monitor and act on your real world experiences with Windows 8—we’ve used the preview process to test out our servicing and we have every intent of doing a great job on this next important phase of the product. Hardware partners will continue to provide new devices and improve support for existing devices.”
Microsoft has outlined some availability dates for Windows 8: August 15 marks the date developers and IT professionals will be able to get their hands on Windows 8 via the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and Microsoft Partner Network (MPN); Customers with Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise Edition on August 16.
The Windows 8 Release Preview is still available to give consumers a preview of Windows 8, though the release preview expires on January 13.
Should Windows 8 launch on time — and the on time meeting of the Release to Manufacturers benchmark is a good sign it will — it will be the second on-time launch for Windows president Steven Sinofsky. He became the Windows division boss in 2009, following the bungled launch of Windows 7.
According to Win8China, which obtained a copy of the RTM code early, the final build of Windows 8 offers far customization options for the Metro UI.
