Only last week Microsoft announced at the 2012 Worldwide Partner Conference that Windows 8 will become available to OEMs in the first week of August, and to consumers by the end of October. Now we have an exact date.

Today at Microsoft's annual sales meeting, Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, announced that Windows 8 will reach General Availability, i.e. launch, on October 26^th, 2012. Consumers will be able to purchase new desktops, laptops and tablets pre-installed with Windows 8 starting that day.

For users currently running Windows 7, Vista and XP on their computers, Microsoft has announced a $39.99 offer to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro + Media Center. And if you've recently bought a new PC, don't be disheartened as you won't be left out either - you'll be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99.

Microsoft's own ingeniously designed Surface tablets will also go on sale around this time, which is great news for holiday season shoppers. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini has said that PC manufacturers have over 140 Windows 8-based Ultrabooks and tablets in the works, all running on its Core i and Atom series of processors. Add to that the Windows 8 devices that will come with ARM-based chips, and there should be plenty of choice for buyers.

Image credit: Blogging Windows (modified)