Release of Microsoft Windows 8

Release of Microsoft Windows 8

The official release date of Microsoft Windows 8 was on October 26, 2012. The release of the Windows 8 operating system was revealed during Microsoft’s annual sales meeting by Steven Sinofsky, the president of Microsoft’s Windows division. The development on Windows 8 began before the release of Windows 7 in 2009.

Microsoft Windows 8 was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012 and the date of the official release, October 26, 2012, was for the general availability. The release of Windows 8 received varied response. Though there was a positive response to the performance improvements, improved support for touchscreen devices, and security enhancements, the operating system’s new user interface or UI was widely criticized for being difficult to learn and potentially confusing.

The experience is more puzzling when it is used with a mouse and keyboard rather than the touchscreen. In spite of the negative reactions, Microsoft was still able to sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses through January 2013 which included both sales to OEMs for new PCs and upgrades. Microsoft released Windows 8.1 on October 17, 2013 to address the features of Windows 8 criticized by early adopters and reviewers.

They also added additional improvements to Windows 8.1 to the different features of the operating system.