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Windows 8 Release Candidate to surface by early June?

New report suggests that the next iteration of Windows 8 will be out before the start of the summer.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read
Microsoft

Could Microsoft unveil the Windows 8 Release Candidate as soon as early June? At least one report says yes.

Blogging site WinUnleaked.tk seems certain of that, spilling the beans over the weekend that "we know the Release Candidate of Windows 8 will be shared with the public between the end of May to the beginning of June." Apparently receiving the intel from an unnamed source, the site notes that the RC will sport at least a few changes from the current beta.

Modifications are in store for the Charms bar, the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10, and the language input menu. The current Customer Experience Improvement Program will also be disabled by default, says WinUnleaked.tk.

A Release Candidate follows a beta and is the last stage before a product's final version. Companies typically incorporate feedback about the beta into the RC, often resulting in a hefty number of changes. But the RC is supposed to be fairly nailed down, meaning few if any major changes before the final edition debuts.

Of course, without more to go on, this latest tidbit should be filed into the rumor drawer for now. But if true, the timing would somewhat mimic that of Windows 7.

The current version of Windows launched as a beta in January of 2009, followed by the Release Candidate in early May. The final version officially rolled out the following October, giving PC vendors just enough time to rev up Windows 7 systems for the holiday season.

The beta, or Consumer Preview, of Windows 8, came out on February 29. A recent report suggests that the final version of Windows 8 will launch this October.

Microsoft will reportedly hold an industry event in April at which it will share its Windows 8 release strategy and other details with industry partners. So we should know the actual timing for the Release Candidate sometime next month.

A spokeswoman for Microsoft told CNET that the company has nothing to share at this time.

Updated 1:15 a.m. PT with response from Microsoft.

Tour the first Windows 8 beta (screenshots)

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