Microsoft Confirms Windows 8 Public Beta Slated For February 2012 Launch

Microsoft has just confirmed that the public beta release of Windows 8 will come in February of 2012, a date that was danced around tentatively, and which we covered previously. At this rate, it's looking pretty good for Microsoft in terms of hitting its development milestones for their tablet-ready new operating system. Now they just have to gear up in hopes of reaching their projected sales, whatever that might be, and which probably will be announced in the near future by the technology giant.

As we said earlier, it's expected that Windows 8 will be officially released in 2012, but the actual expected date for the completion and shipment of the upcoming Microsoft operating system remains, at the moment, not set in stone. Still, no information has been imparted yet on precisely what will be in the public beta of Windows 8, the feature set not yet released nor specified at the moment. But it will most likely be decided by the engineers working on the project deciding which components are release-ready (we hopefully most of them).

Though February is a bit a later than some of us were hoping for a public beta release, Windows 8 seems to be making steady progress, and now that Microsoft has confirmed this milestone today, the official version of Windows 8 should be on track for its expected third quarter release next year. Have any readers downloaded or used the Windows 8 developer preview? What are your thoughts? How does it compare to Windows 7, or even other operating systems? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via The Verge]