Much has been made about the Metro makeover Microsoft applied to Windows 8, and there are a number of ways you can see what all the fuss is about. For one, you can read detailed reviews, like the one we posted last month, or you can install the Release Preview, which is still available to download from Microsoft in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. Yet another way to experience Windows 8 before it's made available to the general public is to head down to your local Best Buy.

How will consumers react to the radical design changes Microsoft made to Windows in Windows 8? We're about to get our first glimpse. Starting today, you can pre-order the upgrade version Windows 8 Pro, as well as order Windows 8-based PCs, which will ship when the OS launches on October 26, 2012. You can also find OEM copies of Windows 8 being sold on a pre-order basis.

Someone should go ahead and que up a continuous loop of Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me" hit from the 1970s (which again became popular in the 1980s courtesy of Joan Jett) because almost every time we see a new product announcement these days, it's the first song that comes to mind. Manufacturers are launching touch-friendly Windows 8 devices at a breakneck pace, including Acer, which just unveiled a line of Aspire M5 Ultrabooks and V5 notebooks, both with touch support.