Microsoft unveils Windows 8 for public test

02-29-2012 • By Bill Rigby

Microsoft Corp unveils the first widely available test version of Windows 8 on Wednesday, giving the public the first chance to try out the slick, new-look operating system it hopes will restore the company's fading tech supremacy.

Windows 8, as the first Microsoft operating system compatible with low-power microprocessors designed by ARM Holdings Plc, will run on tablets as well as desktops and laptops.

"The operating system has begun to be seen as largely irrelevant," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at fund firm McAdams Wright Ragen, which holds Microsoft shares. "This is the release that will have to prove its relevance all over again."

1 Comments in Response to Microsoft unveils Windows 8 for public test

Comment by Powell Gammill

Entered on: 2/29/2012 11:26:31 AM

Since Windows 7 is a big hit I fail to see the reason for hoping Windows 8 will somehow improve anything. It is a radical departure from the Windows interface which will cause all sorts of problems and make users resist switching over. Microsoft is probably dying from the other side of the company---its software division. Much of their software is extremely expensive (around 90% overpriced as is their operating systems) compared to free apps that credibly do the same things. Hard to compete with free when yours costs $300 and next year's upgrade path costs $149 or more. DOA.

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