While everyone is buzzing over the upcoming Consumer Preview of Windows 8, Fujitsu recently held a press conference where it hinted at when Windows 8 would hit retail. This is yet another rumor that has indicated Q4 of 2012 to be the release time-frame for Windows 8.
According to a Fujitsu product road-map, Windows 8 will hit retail in the fourth quarter of this year. In a recent press conference, Fujitsu also bragged about its upcoming notebooks and tablets and even displayed a slide that indicated a Windows 8 launch date of Quarter 4 2002. The slide also showed a tablet featuring the Metro user interface, which could mean that the company is prepping for a Windows 8 tablet to be released around the same time. Now, one can argue that the “Q4 2012” that was indicated in the slide could simply mean the launch of Fujitsu’s tablet based on Windows 8. If that is true, then Windows 8 may hit retail before the fourth quarter.
Let’s not forget that Steve Ballmer himself was quoted saying that Windows 8 would be released in 2012, only to have his statements pulled from Microsoft.
Another rumor was floating around a year ago that mentioned Windows 8 to hit final at the very end of the year 2012 just in time for the 2012 holiday season with neat little retail boxes being available early 2013.
While the retail version of Windows 8 has ways to go, everyone is exciting over the upcoming Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which is known as the Beta. Microsoft has confirmed that the Consumer Preview will be available for download by the end of February. The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on the 29th of February is expected to be the place and time for the release of the Consumer Preview.
And let’s not forget about the new Windows 8 logo. Recent reports had suggested that Microsoft would be redesigning the Windows 8 logo and some reports even stated that it was not true. Microsoft officially revealed a new logo for Windows 8 that is no longer a flag, but a window.