Windows 8 Release Date Leaked to the Web, is It Real?
It seems like just yesterday we were putting on our cardigans and hamming it up with complete strangers at our Windows 7 party, and that's because it kind of was. And with Redmond's latest OS barely three months old, there's already talk of Windows 8, including a release date that was supposedly leaked to the Web.
According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, former Microsoft employee Chris Green drew up a chart detailing Microsoft's roadmap for future product releases. In it, he reveals the following release schedule:
- WIndows 8: July 1, 2011
- Windows Server 2012: July 2, 2012
- Office 2012: July 2, 2012
- SQL Server 2011: July 1, 2011
- SharePoint Server 2013: July 1, 2013
- Exchange 2013: July 1, 2013
- OCS 2010: December 1, 2010
These are all RTM (Release to Manufacturing) dates, and if they're legit, it means Microsoft plans to pull-forward the Windows 8 RTM date from what would typically be a three-year interval between OSes.
Color us skeptical.

Image Credit: windows8geek.com
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big_montana
January 28, 2010 at 12:01pm
That is an incorrect date, as every roadmap I have seen has Windows 8 releasing summer of 2012. Also, Win 8 will come in both 64 and 128 bit flavors and Win 7 is the last 32 bit OS MS will release. http://windows8center.com/
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haboh
January 28, 2010 at 11:06am
That would be great, so I could get the beta/RC for 8 before my win 7 RC stops working.. :) But sounds very unlikely.
Also; will they really use this naming scheme for all future versions? Would think they are afraid of get into trouble with some other company that probably patented: "the use if the number 10 for an OS" ...
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egoforth
July 29, 2010 at 2:59pm
You can use Tweak NT (I think it's Tweak NT) to remove time bomb. You could also google remove time bomb in windows beta versions.
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NAYRhyno
January 28, 2010 at 9:12am
Take it for what it is, rumor. If it is even based in fact, the fact would be they are targeting having their next OS ready by mid 2011. We may see somehting then, but my prediction would be more like a year or more from that time for a true new operating system. I really think we will start seeing them go to a more Apple like release schedule/strategy. Once Apple finally got a great OS (OS X) it started releasing every subsequent one as a add-on to that. MS is at that point now. With the great success in the media and retail (to some extent) of Win 7, I think we will see Win 7.1 (or some fancy name, Windows 7 Mountain Lion) before we see Win 8.
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Game-Central.org
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MleB
January 28, 2010 at 8:39am
Win8 in July 2011? Less than 2 years from the last OS release? Microsoft? Are we sure - in true Micrsoft fashion, this isn't really Win7 SP3? Perhaps in-keeping with that, we could think of it as WinMe v2?
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Caboose
January 28, 2010 at 10:08am
Maybe they're going to pull an Apple, and release a "NEW" OS every year or two, when it's nothing more than an expensive service pack!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
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nekollx
January 28, 2010 at 12:27pm
Feh Windows XP was just Windows 98 SP3
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Caboose
January 28, 2010 at 1:30pm
And Windows 98SE was just Windows 95 SP2
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
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theplustwo
January 28, 2010 at 8:35am
There's no way they'd be setting a release date already, not even having done any beta testing or release candidates. It'll be more than a year. I'd expect Windows 8 to drop closer to Q3 of 2012.
As far as "what's the point," the point is developing new features, stability and security. The world never stops changing. Did you think Windows 7 would just be the final version? What would possibly give you that idea?
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ThunderBolt
January 28, 2010 at 9:58am
new features, stability and security can be implemented in an existing OS; Windows Updates?. it's cheaper, and easier that way you know. Where exactly did I say that W7 would be the final version. It makes no sense AT ALL to release a new OS every 2 years from the viewpoint of a consumer.
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nekollx
January 28, 2010 at 10:00am
Windows Update 7 can turn my 64-bit OS into a 128-Bit OS? Cooooooool
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Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
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nekollx
January 28, 2010 at 9:27am
we've know about 8 (and 9) for some time too...
Did you know Windows 8 will support 128 bit?
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.

















