Microsoft will release its new operating system Windows 8 in October, allowing the software company plenty of time to target shoppers over the holiday season, according to a report on March 20 by Bloomberg News.
Quoting people with knowledge of the schedule, the report said that the rollout would include 40 devices running Intel chips and less than five running ARM chips, which are widely favoured in mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers.
It will be the first time that Windows is available on the ARM architecture - a move that Microsoft hopes will help it belatedly compete with Apple in tablet computer sales.