On Wednesday Intel issued a statement in regards to "unsubstantiated" news about comments made by Intel CEO Paul Otellini while in a meeting with employees in Taipai. Intel is actually responding to a report published by Bloomberg on Tuesday that's based on an anonymous source who supposedly attended this particular company meeting.
The source, who naturally asked not to be identified, said that Otellini told the staff that Microsoft is eager to get Windows 8 out the door and on tablets, desktops and laptops. The company is so eager that Microsoft plans to ship the OS before it's even fully cooked next month, and that improvements still need to be made. It's the right move, he reportedly said, and that Microsoft can patch things up after the fact.
The article goes on to quote Michael Cherry at Directions on Microsoft who echos criticisms from other analysts. He said that although Windows is "fundamentally sound," the latest edition lacks a wide range of applications. Even more, OEMs haven't had enough time to work out the kinks in their drivers even though they've had access to various builds of the OS for quite some time.
Consumers and businesses who think a Windows 8 upgrade will work flawlessly out-of-the-box at launch are highly mistaken. That's the beauty of the PC platform: there are so many configurations that it's nearly impossible to address every possible issue immediately. This is why personal feedback and error reporting are important so that both hardware manufacturers and Microsoft can address the issues with patches.
Otellini's message was likely blown out of proportion. Microsoft is eager to get Windows 8 on the market, and understandably so, but it won't release a perfectly cooked platform because that's the nature of software development. However the company will have less worries with the tablet form factor due to set hardware specs, as will OEMs who can fine-tune the OS and their drivers in a similar controlled manner.
Still, Microsoft spokesperson Mark Martin told Bloomberg that "with over 16 million active preview participants, Windows 8 is the most tested, reviewed and ready operating system in Microsoft’s history."
"Intel has a long and successful heritage working with Microsoft on the release of Windows platforms, delivering devices that provide exciting experiences, stunning performance, and superior compatibility. Intel fully expects this to continue with Windows 8," Intel said on Wednesday.
Despite the platform launching a new era for Microsoft by bringing Windows into the touch-based "Modern UI" age, it promises to be one of the most polished releases yet.
"Intel, Microsoft and our partners have been working closely together on testing and validation to ensure delivery of a high-quality experience across the nearly 200 Intel-based designs that will start launching in October," the company added. "Intel CEO Paul Otellini is on record as saying 'Windows 8 is one of the best things that ever happened to Intel,' citing the importance of the touch interface coming to mainstream computing and the huge wave of exciting new Ultrabook, tablet and convertible device innovations coming to the market."
