The Windows 8 FAQ has been created by the staff of Windows 8 News to provide visitors with information about the Windows 8 operating system. The Windows 8 FAQ is updated continuously as new facts and features emerge.
Updated: 22/7/11
Although Windows 7 was only released in October 2009, attention already is turning to its replacement Windows 8 which is expected in 2012. Windows 8 News is dedicated to bringing you all the latest news, rumours, screenshots about the next release of Windows, and is the sister site to Windows 7 News, the best news source for Windows 7.
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Why is the next Microsoft operating system expected to be called Windows 8?
Microsoft has changed its approach to naming operating systems (e.g XP, Vista) and is using an internal numbering system and the next Windows operating system, Windows 7, is the 7th release. Hence the replacement for Windows 7 is expected to be called Windows 8. Microsoft has yet to make an official announcement about the name of the operating system. Many experts expect it to be Windows 8.
When will Windows 8 be released?
Microsoft normally release a new OS every 3 years, so Windows 8 should be launched in 20012, approximately 3 years after Windows 7. Three year’s time would mean we could see a final release between July and October of 2012.
Are there beta or release candidate versions of Windows 8 that can be downloaded for testing purposes?
Public Windows 8 Builds aren’t available yet, but several leaks have already made their way onto the internet. Official betas and builds will eventually be made. Many experts expect a public beta to be released by Microsoft during the BUILD conference in September 2011.
What are the hardware and system requirements to run Windows 8?
Microsoft has recently confirmed that Windows 8 will run on the same hardware that Windows 7 will run on. To be precise, it will run on more hardware configurations considering that Windows 8 will also support ARM processors. Here are the requirements for the Windows 7 operating system:
- 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
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