The first phones featuring Windows Phone 8 may arrive in November from Nokia.
Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed that Windows 8 will be available to consumers on October 26, 2012, after being released to manufacturing by the first week in August. Microsoft's Surface RT tablet, the one based on ARM SoCs that won't be able to run most existing Windows apps natively, is also slated to make its debut on October 26.
As for Windows Server 2012, it's scheduled to be released to manufacturing (RTM) by the first week in August, and made available on the market in September. Office 2013, aka Office 15, will be priced by October, released to manufacturing in November, and made available on the market in February 2013, according to an unnamed source.
As for Windows Phone 8, the updated mobile OS is scheduled to go RTM in September followed by a November release date for the first devices. Visual Studio 2012 is expected to go RTM in August, and then released on the market in September. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is scheduled to go RTM in September, and then hit the market in October.
Previously there was talk about Microsoft holding a launch event where the company would officially introduce the final versions of both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Based on the new dates, a single event would need to take place after Windows 8 hit store shelves, thus a dual intro is less likely. Still, Microsoft is expected launch a Build 2.0-type developers conference sometime around October, and will likely focus on both platforms.
On Thursday in an analyst call discussing Nokia's Q2 earnings, CEO Stephen Elop hinted that the company would be the first to produce a Windows Phone 8 device. He made the hint towards the end of the call while defending Nokia's relationship with Microsoft -- a relationship that's seemingly strained based on the Redmond company's move to produce its own Windows 8 tablets.
"One signal [of what is coming] is that on the number of occasions when Windows Phone 8 has been demonstrated it has been on a Nokia device," he said, evading a question about Nokia' making the first WP8 phone. "We have a close relationship that is unlike what anyone else has with Microsoft."
I just hope that these new launch devices aren't just Lumia 850's and 950's with support for multicore processors and removable memory cards. I would like my device to be set apart from current Nokia WP devices.
As of right now here are my best guesses:
win8 x86 on tablets: huge success, putting a lot of heat on the iPad in 2013, and likely outselling it in 2014
win8RT: Flop. No app eco system available yet, and ARM devices are under-powered compared to x86 devices that windows customers are accustomed to using. People who want the win8RT experience will just purchase a win8 phone with a docking station.
Win8 on Desktops and laptops: likely a relative flop at first, but will catch on before the end of 2013. I highly doubt people will purchase new devices specifically to have win8, or that many will pay to upgrade to win8 on current machines (though they might at $40 if they extend the upgrade price beyond January), but I also doubt it will be the flop that people are expecting where people will avoid win8 like they did with Vista. Win8 is different, but it is a much smaller/faster/feature rich OS than win7, and I think the general public will have less qualms about the start screen than most of the picky beta testers out there.
WP8: Huge success, bringing WP platform into the real market and eating into Android market share from day 1. This assumes the devices are priced equal or just below best selling Android phones, something that WP7 devices never quite got. We do not mind slightly lower specs as the OS is clearly faster, but we also are not going to spend $500 for a Windows Phone that has the same specs as a $300 Android phone. I highly doubt it will eat into the iPhone share any time soon, though it may force Apple to innovate a bit.
Office 15: Flop. I have been using it the last week on my computer, and (at least for my use) there is no real difference between 2007 and 2012 (with the exception of Access and Publisher, but I don't use them much). Until Office offers something really 'new' (on the order of finally adding a dictionary to word in 2007) then there is little reason to upgrade.
I pray to God that the subscription idea for office is turned down by consumers as Balmer is already on reccord saying that Windows itself should be on subscription. If the Office subscription service takes off then win9 will definitely move to that model, which is just about the only thing that would make me move over to a Linux platform.
Translation: MS has their arm so far Nokia's ass, you can see the hand.
I'm not seeing WP8 changing a thing.
The desktop will be the most interesting part of the equation for everything to succeed. I will definitely purchase the upgrade at $40 not because I like the Metro taking over the start button, but because I know Microsoft has to remove it in order to have businesses adopt it. Some amount of training is required at work and that costs time and money. Look no further as to why Microsoft removed the Office Start button in Office 2012 and replaced it with the familiar File menu/tab. Test Windows 8 on your non-techie friends and ask them to shut down the computer. Since new computers will come with Windows 8, it will automatically succeed unless you believe the majority will flock to Apple desktops and laptops instead.
I do expect the intel based tablets to do well since Office will be available and many businesses can easily port their custom software to it. It will be basically the touch tablet/laptop operating system for the windows user of the future.
MS has been selling the tablet platform since 2001 with the release of XP... its a limited market for some business and hospitals. So it should do okay in the markets it does sell in, it won't come close to $350~600 iPads which have better screens and support.
WART tablets = fail. These $400~600 tablets are supposed to go against the iPad. No 3G or 4G models, only available from the 26 Microsoft stores in the world, no Apps (okay 10 or so), not compatible with the x86 windows... confusion of bait and switch... Imagine a customer buying a WART tablet and then finding out the needed to double their price to get what they were expecting?
WP8 Phones = Fail. MS keeps orphaning their phones with every release. This gets old. The limited # of WP7 will run (good)... I will guess in 3 years, MS may hit 6% market share of WP8, if they are lucky. The iPhone5 should be on the market by then and will just bury WP8. Apple will do to WP8 what they did to Amiga... they will IGNORE it... their guns are on Android. An Apple rep: "What is Windows Phone?"
Office 2013 = stagnant It will sell the same as it always does. Nobody is going to wet their pants to get their hands on it. Its almost like buying a car : Windows (check) Office (check) {Tires, check, doors, check). But MS Office market share is going down slowly... Open Office does 90% of what people need for a much cheaper price. yes, its NO Office 2010, but hey - they write a letter to grandma and dump it into the snail mail box.
Window8 Desktop = Fail For all the reasons you say it won't. Its simply crumble-some to use on a content creation device (computer). Metro is lovely for Phones and tablets... mostly.
I know that MS is trying to create an eco-system... they need to in order to survive. They have failed. Now, if some of us are wrong and Win8-OS is a home-run - then everything changes. People will BUY WP8 handsets... People will buy WART tablets... if the WinOS8 desktop experience blows them away. This is what I thought, until I actually used Win8 on a desktop.
But I think most people will HATE Windows8, which means they will NOT buy WP8 and WARTs. I will never install Win8 on my computers... even if MS sold it for $1. Too bad, I really like most of the improvements to Win8 desktop... The skin in ver. 8400 is great, but MS rips it out and goes full metro on the UI... its ugly.
I'll stick with Win7... and plan to migrate to Linux... I have little need for Windows... as do more and more people.
You see, with all these Android and iOS phones and tablets, it shows people that Microsoft Windows *IS* not needed. I was going to go with a Lumia phone... but I'm getting a new Android phone in a week or so. And you know how those 2 year plans go.
Balmer sunk Microsoft... their company social system is a mess with infighting and corp. back stabbing. They don't innovate. Their stock value has been $30 for years. Apple is $615+ today. Apple makes more money from JUST THE iPhone4 than everything that is Microsoft.
I like Metro... I'm running it on my Android phone and its actually a bit more customized than Microsoft's. The tiles rotate to the phones orientation and individual color tiles, if I so choose. Same ALL APPS page, search functions. Same notification in the tiles.
On a desktop... its just stupid, crumblesome... I thought it would work fine.
Actually the only threat to Microsoft is Microsoft itself as porting applications that were once planned to run only on PCs takes a lot of planning, coding and testing.
Plus WP7 is fantastic. It's fast, slick and has no errors(well for me anyway). I just hope that they let VPN functionality get into it, it's the only thing that I wish was put into it so far.
As for desktops? I don't like the metro UI. I'd rather burn my cash than put W8 on my computer
I can understand you don't like Microsoft and you especially don't believe in W8, but this is a bit exaggerated... Until that sentence it looked like you knew what you were talking about. But that ruined everything.
Just for you to record :
Aple incomes for the whole 2011 years : around 600M$
Microsoft incomes for 2011 : around 900M$
So... before being full of hate, check at least what you are saying, because it makes your argument falling to tech analysis to hater bill.
They now need to put as much effort into the public as they did the business sector.
Their advertising still sucks lol