Microsoft Launches Test Version Of Windows 8

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Wednesday launched the first test version of Windows 8, to gather consumer feedback on the new operating system.

Steven Sinofsky, who heads the company's Windows division, said Microsoft has made over 100,000 code changes to the operating system since the developer preview of Windows 8 was launched in September 2011.

Windows 8, which isn't expected to be released commercially until late this year, is designed to position Microsoft in the fast-growing tablet market dominated by Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad and devices that run Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android software.

Microsoft, once the dominating global software developer, has failed to gain traction in the smartphone and tablet markets. Windows 8 is critical to Microsoft's mobile future, and represents the most dramatic overhaul of the operating system since the release of Windows 95, 16 years ago.

Windows 8 will be flexible enough to accommodate tablet devices and smartphones, as well as more traditional PCs that rely on keyboards and mice. The software has gained attention for the dramatic changes to its user interface, which was originally used in Microsoft's mobile operating system Windows Phone 7.

The launch will reduce Microsoft's dependence on its 30-year partnership with Intel Corp. (INTC). Instead, the operating system will support ARM processors, which are used in virtually all tablet computers and smartphones, in addition to the previously supported x86 microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).

Microsoft hopes that working with ARM-based chip makers such as Qualcomm, Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), will help it to capture share on the market for mobile devices.

-By Sven Grundberg, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]