Report: Microsoft plans to demo Windows 8 tablets by June
Software giant is readying tablets to show off its new Windows 8 design by June, a Microsoft source has told Business Insider.
Microsoft plans to demonstrate tablets running Windows 8 by the end of June, a company source has told Business Insider.
The source told Business Insider that Microsoft is taking a more "Apple-like" approach in designing the new operating system for tablets and plans to adopt certain ideas from the Metro interface created for Windows Phone 7. If true, the June date for demonstrating the new OS on a tablet is significant as that month marks the end of Microsoft's fiscal year.
Yesterday's report follows a story by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, who was sent a snapshot of a Windows 8 plan with scheduled dates for the three internal builds, or milestones, as the new OS is developed. The plan shows milestone 2 already being completed after a five-month development cycle and milestone 3 kicking off just yesterday. Assuming a similar time frame, this means milestone 3 should be completed around the end of July.
Another recently leaked plan, this one from Dell, displays a Windows 8 tablet, code-named Peju, slated to hit the consumer market in early 2012, though Foley believes this may be nothing more than a demo machine geared for developers.
Of course, Microsoft isn't talking. Though Windows 8 is coming, the company has so far remained mum on any projected launch dates. But with Microsoft readying the next version of Windows to run on devices with ARM processors, Windows 8 will surely shape up to be the first version of Windows optimized for mobile devices.
We reached out to Microsoft for comment, but a spokesperson told us that the company has no information to share at this time.