Skip to main content

Report: Windows 8 seeds being sent to PC makers

According to Microsoft news-and-rumors site WinRumors, Microsoft has begun seeding selected manufacturers with early builds of Windows 8 so they can get ready for the operating systems’ general release, currently expected for sometime in 2012. According to the report, Microsoft is seeding a “milestone 3” build to Hewlett-Packard and other vendors

Microsoft has had relatively little to say in public about Windows 8: after all, the company is still riding high on the retail success of Windows 7. At the beginning of the year, the company said it had sold more than 300 million copies of the operating system, although that figure was a little below estimates as sales of tablets and smartphones ate into netbook sales, a product category Microsoft’s CFO characterizes as “past their prime.”

Related Videos

Last year, Microsoft’s Dutch Web site made a fleeting reference to a 2012 timeframe for Windows 8; past that, the only real indication of a Windows 8 release date is that Microsoft’s server team was gearing up for a major release in 2012. Releases of Windows Server typically follow shortly on the heels of major desktop operating system releases. Other information has been limited to industry speculation, a purported series of leaked screenshots, and rumors that Microsoft and OEM manufacturers are working on Windows 8 tablets, possibly for a 2012 release.

To date, the only real information about Windows 8 is that Microsoft plans to support ARM CPUs in addition to Intel-based processors, a move that bolsters the notion that Microsoft is targeting portable devices like tablets and “slates” as well as traditional desktop and notebook computers.

Editors' Recommendations

How to use Bing Image Creator to generate AI images for free
Bing Image Creator generated a realistic, yet artistic image of a hand drawing a hand.

Bing search made a giant leap forward in popularity and gained new conversational abilities when Microsoft added OpenAI's GPT-4 technology with the new ChatGPT-based Bing Chat tab. Now. another mode of operation is available with Bing Image Creator, which turns your written description into a picture.

According to Microsoft's blog post, Bing Image Creator uses a more advanced version of OpenAI's Dall-E. That means it can produce high-quality, photorealistic digital pictures, drawings, and paintings for you based on the text prompts you supply.
How to get access to Bing Image Creator
There are two ways to use Bing Image Creator. The simplest is to go to bing.com/create, which brings up Image Creator in preview right in your browser. This is available to everyone, and is a good place to try it out, even on mobile.

Read more
Bing Chat: how to use Microsoft’s own version of ChatGPT
Bing Chat shown on a laptop.

Microsoft has added AI to its Edge browser and Bing search engine, and it's powered by the same advanced technology that OpenAI used to create ChatGPT. It's also available in mobile apps, enabling AI interaction by voice.

Here's how to sign up and use Bing Chat today.
How to get Bing Chat

Read more
Looking for a cheap desktop computer? This Dell PC is $430
The Dell Inspiron Desktop, on its own.

Do you just need a simple, dependable PC for a cheap price? Dell has long been the answer to that request. That's because they make quality, budget-level machines and usually have nice desktop computer deals to cut the prices even more. Right now, for instance, you can buy the Dell Inspiron desktop PC for only $430, $70 off its usual price. This is about as cheap as quality desktops go, so grab it while the discount is still active.

Why you should buy the Dell Inspiron Desktop
Dell is a fixture in our list of the best desktop computers because of its high-end models, but it also rolls out trustworthy entry-level options like the Dell Inspiron Desktop. The PC is powered by the 12th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 730, and 8GB of RAM, which will be enough to get you through simple tasks such as doing online research, making reports, and building presentations. Our guide on how much RAM do you need recommends upgrading to at least 16GB of RAM, which will be easy to do once you've saved up for it as that's one of the perks of a desktop computer over a laptop.

Read more