Nearly a thousand people gathered to witness the unveiling of the much-awaited Windows 8 launch Thursday, Oct. 26 while who knows how many watched the live streaming on the Microsoft website. Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer told the audience. "We’ve truly re-imagined Windows." The unveiling was held in New York and ended the long months of speculations and discussions about Windows 8 and Microsoft’s much-awaited Surface RT. It was heavily promoted by Microsoft’s executives even before it was unveiled.
photo credit: itechbook.net
A large portion of the presentation held by Microsoft was dedicated to the Windows Store for apps and Windows 8 PCs, sharing the limelight with the Surface tablet and Windows RT. The Windows RT will come pre-installed on several new devices as well aside from the Surface tablet. Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft said they partnered Asus, Dell, Lenovo and Samsung, among other OEMs, to produce Windows RT. It also works with other peripherals including printers.
It was evident though the Windows 8 was the star of the show. The new OS is representative of Microsoft’s determination to be part of the mobile world. It is designed specifically to make use of touchscreen capabilities in tablets. It also recognizes the growing number of consumers who are shifting to the cloud. It enables consumers to connect to all content in the cloud, according to Ballmer. Now all that remains is for Microsoft to market their new OS.