Microsoft Releases Windows 8

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The long-anticipated release of Windows 8 has finally arrived. Microsoft kicked off the new operating system with a launch event in New York.

CNET’s Dan Farber wrote, “After several years of development, now it’s your turn to vote for or against Windows 8 with your wallet. Windows 8 goes on sale around the world at 12:01a.m. local time around the world, with an upgrade price as low as $39.95. ‘This is the best release of Windows ever,’ Microsoft Windows chief Steven Sinofsky said at the Windows 8 launch event in New York today. He noted that Windows 8 has been heavily road-tested, with 1.24 billion hours of pre-release testing across 190 countries.”

According to PCMag’s Chloe Albanesius, “Steve Ballmer took the stage later and echoed Sinofsky’s sentiments. ‘Windows 8 PCs are simply the best PCs ever,’ he said. Ballmer said Windows 8 ‘lights up with your life,’ allowing for easy access to ‘everything and everybody that you really care about.'”

Wired’s Alexandra Chang summed up the launch event saying “There’s no news. They just talked about what we already know about Windows 8. There were no new devices. There were no new features. Ballmer and Sinofsky said the same things they’ve been saying about Windows 8 for some time. This really is just a Windows 8 celebration.”

Meanwhile, Computerworld’s Patrick Thibodeau reported, “Enterprises won’t move quickly to adopt Windows 8, and most will wait till the year after next, according to market research firm Gartner. Users at Gartner’s Symposium/ITexpo conference tended to back up the view that was summarized by Gartner Research Director Peter Sondergaard. He told attendees here that ‘however good the prospects look for Windows 8 in the consumer market or for tablets, there are no compelling business imperatives to drive legacy devices in business toward Windows 8. Therefore, 90% of enterprises will bypass broadscale deployment of Windows 8 through at least 2014,’ Sondergaard said.”