Back in July, Microsoft
announced at the 2012 WPC that Windows 8 will RTM in the first
week of August. And sure enough, as far as Windows 8 news is
concerned, Microsoft has started this month with a bang by
announcing that Windows 8 has indeed reached its penultimate
milestone - RTM (Release to Manufacturing).
What this milestone means is that the development and testing of
Windows 8 is complete and the final code has been locked down and
sent to Microsoft's OEM partners such as Acer, Lenovo and HP so
they can prepare the Windows 8 devices they have in the
pipeline.

Microsoft has a number of programs under which members receive
early access to its software. These are the dates when they get
Windows 8 RTM:
- August 15th: Developers with MSDN subscriptions, and IT
professionals with TechNet subscriptions
- August 16th: Volume licensees with
Software
Assurance (SA), and Microsoft Partner Network (MPN)
members
- August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack
Providers (MAPS)
- September 1st: Volume licensees
without SA
But as a consumer, you won't be able to get your hands on
Windows 8 until it launches on
October 26th. At that time, you can purchase a new
Windows 8 device, upgrade your
existing PC for $39.99, or use the
$14.99 upgrade offer if you buy a new PC today.
Also RTMing alongside Windows 8 are Windows Server 2012 and
Visual Studio 2012. Windows Server 2012 will reach General
Availability on September 4th and will be launched
online at windows-server-launch.com,
while Visual Studio 2012 will become available on MSDN on August
15th and officially launch on September 12th
at visualstudiolaunch.com.
Microsoft's official announcement made no mention of Windows
RT's RTM date, the version of Windows 8 that will run on ARM-based
devices. However, according to
The Next Web, device manufacturers have received Windows RT's
RTM version.
Another major announcement made was that the Windows Store is
now open for businesses to submit paid Metro style apps. Companies
will need to use the RTM build of Windows 8 to upload apps. Details
for individual developers will be shared later.
Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, said in a
post on the Building Windows 8
blog that the Windows 8 Previews "have been the most widely and
deeply used test releases of any product we have ever done." He
also shared an impressive statistic: the Developer, Consumer and
Release Previews put together were downloaded on over 16 million
PCs.
Steven Sinofsky also confirmed the build number of the final
release is 9200, and not 8888 as rumored earlier. He noted that
Windows 8 has "thousands of new features," most of which have not
been covered yet, saying there will be a lot to talk about at the
recently-announced
BUILD 2012 conference.
Image credit: Blogging Windows