Microsoft announced Windows 8 OS will be available to the public by the end of October 2012.
The company is really pushing the mass marketing campaign to facilitate Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 users to jump into the Windows 8 Pro wagon with two crazy offers.
New Windows 7 PC Sales Starting Today
Did you purchase a Windows 7 PC or laptop since June 2, 2012? If you plan to buy one between June 2, 2012 and January 31, 2013 you can download Windows 8 Pro for only $14.99 — exclusively from Microsoft here.
The Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer Q&A can be found here.
Old PCs
If you are running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro straight from the microsoft.com website for only $39.99 — with the option to pay $15 + shipping for a physical DVD.
The downloadable Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Assistant allows you to stop/resume download, and to create your own bootable USB or .ISO file.
You can read full details of the upgrade process here.
Press Release
July 9, 2012 — Today in Toronto, Canada, at Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference, Windows Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller spoke to thousands of partners from around the world. She shared some exciting new details regarding Windows that I wanted to pass along.
For the first time, we provided details on Windows 8 availability. Tami confirmed that Windows 8 is on track to Release to Manufacturing (RTM) the first week of August. For enterprise customers with Software Assurance benefits, they will have full access to Windows 8 bits as early as August. Additionally, she noted that RTM is when we’ll be turning on the commerce platform so that developers can start earning money for their apps – we’ll have more to share on the Windows Store for developers blog soon. Of course, right now with the Windows 8 Release Preview, all apps are still free for people to try.
Tami went on to say that Windows 8 will reach general availability by the end of October! This means that new Windows 8 and Windows RT PCs will be available to buy and upgrades will be available starting in October. She also mentioned that that Windows 8 will be available in 109 languages across 231 markets worldwide.