Latest Windows 8 Rumor Says RTM by April 2012

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Just one beta to rule them all?

Veteran Microsoft reporter Mary-Jo Foley of ZDNet has a tip about when Windows 8 will see release.

The original belief was that Windows 8 would hit the release to manufacturing (RTM) in Q2/Q3 2012 following various beta previews and release candidates. The new rumor is that Microsoft is shooting to RTM by April 2012.

What's more, rather than just RTM the two desktop and business editions, Microsoft is aiming to finish Windows 8 for x86, x64, as well as the ARM SoC and Windows 8 Servers all for a simultaneous RTM.

The rumor extends itself to say that there will be a beta release around the time of the BUILD conference this September. It will be the only beta release that will be followed by the release candidate in January 2012.

If true, an April 2012 RTM time would mean a retail launch that could be just in time for the back-to-school buyers.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dread_cthulhu
    They're still making windows for X86? Why? 64 bit is superior in so many ways, and 90% of applications will run on it. People need to get away from the 32-bit only nonsense.
    Reply
  • GreaseMonkey_62
    I agree. The problem is that even though most of the chips made in the past few years support 64 bit, there are still plenty of 32bit systems out in the wild. However if Windows stops supporting 32bit, people will finally be forced to upgrade.
    Reply
  • shompa
    dread_cthulhuThey're still making windows for X86? Why? 64 bit is superior in so many ways, and 90% of applications will run on it. People need to get away from the 32-bit only nonsense.
    Could you please explain why 64bit is better beside 32bit memory limitation?

    A hit: X86 is not real 64bit, it only have 64 bit extensions.
    Reply
  • socalboomer
    dread_cthulhuThey're still making windows for X86? Why? 64 bit is superior in so many ways, and 90% of applications will run on it. People need to get away from the 32-bit only nonsense.
    Because most Atom processors are x86. (Diamondville and mobile Pineview are the only 64bit Atoms so far)

    I tried (because I only had the 64bit media handy) to install 64bit on my netbook and it said the processor was not compatible with 64bit so I had to go with 32bit.
    Reply
  • acadia11
    Can't wait for a windows 8 tablet.
    Reply
  • jiangyi
    Until Microsoft lets me install un-signed drivers in x64, I'm sticking with x86.
    Reply
  • ram1009
    dread_cthulhuThey're still making windows for X86? Why? 64 bit is superior in so many ways, and 90% of applications will run on it. People need to get away from the 32-bit only nonsense. Please tell me what benefits I will see by switching to 64 bits.
    Reply
  • shompa
    GreaseMonkey_62I agree. The problem is that even though most of the chips made in the past few years support 64 bit, there are still plenty of 32bit systems out in the wild. However if Windows stops supporting 32bit, people will finally be forced to upgrade.
    Every X86 cpu sold after jun 2006 have 64bit extensions. Apple stopped 32bit support with OSX 10.7. Micosoft should do the same. People with 6 years old PCs are not prime candidate to upgrade to Win8.

    The problem is that software does not get any boost on X86 64bit sine X86 is not a real 64bit processor.

    In 1995 when UltraSparc went 64bit, software became almost twice as fast on 64bit, then 32bit.

    In windows 64bit software usually are a couple of % slower then the 32bit version.

    More importantly: BIOS needs to be killed. It is redicious that they are selling 4 gig grapchic cards, and BIOS can only adress a bit over 2gig. People are so uneducated!

    EFI has been around since 2006. If Apple can boot Windows with EFI, why cant Dell? Just removing BIOS make the computer much faster. (this is the reason why Apple Windows machines beats same clocked Dell/HP PCs)
    Reply
  • shompa
    Lets hope Microsoft adopt Apple software pricing and price windows 8 ultimate edition 29 dollars.
    Reply
  • triculious
    if the beta convinces me I'll upgrade to windows 8 from windows 7 (highly doubt it) but only if it's priced bellow 30 dollars (almost impossible)
    Reply