Microsoft on Thursday released the final test version of its next-generation Windows software crafted to power devices ranging from tablets to desktop computers.
"We're thrilled to be at this milestone with
the Windows 8 Release Preview," said Windows and Windows Live division
president Steven Sinofsky.
The nearly finished Windows 8 software was available for download in 14 languages at preview.windows.com.
Availability of Windows 8 Release Preview
marks the final phase of development before the operating system becomes
available to makers of computers and other devices.
A "consumer preview" version of Windows 8 was
downloaded more than a million times in the 24 hours after its release
in February, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 series --
featuring an upgraded cloud computing service -- marks a "rebirth" of
its operating system, chief executive Steve Ballmer said last week at a
gathering in South Korea.
Ballmer described Windows 8 as the "deepest,
broadest and most impactful" Windows software ever created by the
Redmond, Washington-based tech giant, after the current Windows 7 sold
at unprecedented rates to businesses.
"It's really, in some senses, a dawning of
the rebirth of MS Windows... It's certainly the most important piece of
work we've done," he said in a speech to the Seoul Digital Forum.
Windows 8 allows users readily to store and
share personal data among various devices under the "SkyDrive" cloud
computing service. Rivals Apple and Google offer such services.
The new Microsoft system will support a wider
range of devices, including touch- and stylus-based smartphones and
tablet PCs as well as desktop and laptop machines, Ballmer said.
The software giant has been trying to expand
its presence in the booming software market for smartphones and tablets,
which is currently dominated by Apple and Google.
Ballmer predicted that the cloud computing market would become dominated by a few big players.
Cloud computing refers to the popular trend
of using software as a service hosted online at data centers instead of
downloading and maintaining programs in personal machines.
Web-based email services such as Gmail are common examples of "cloud" computing.
"The number of core (cloud) platforms, around
which software developers will do their innovation, is not
ever-broadening," he said.
"It's really a quite smaller and focused number -- Windows, various forms of Linux, the Apple ecosystem."
In three to five years from now, "there will be just a few ecosystems that really can get the critical mass", he said.
Ballmer estimated up to 500 million users
will have Windows systems next year, promising the "best economic
opportunity" for device makers and app developers.
Microsoft will also soon introduce Skype
powered by Windows 8, Ballmer said. His company last year bought the
leading Internet video and voice-calling service for $8.5 billion.
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