When we first started posting news tidbits regarding Windows 8, we warned readers not to expect the operating system to arrive until 2011 at the earliest, and we noted that 2012 was more likely. After the problems caused by the long gap between the releases of Windows XP and Windows Vista, Microsoft said that starting with Windows 7, the company would work really hard to follow a three-year release cycle. Windows 7 was released on October 22, 2009, so it makes sense that Windows 8 will get here in 2012, assuming no delays. That might be a slightly harder feat to achieve given that Windows 8 will be a major release (like Windows Vista was, as opposed to a minor one, like Windows 7 was) but since Windows 7 arrived less than three years after Vista, Microsoft should be able to pull it off.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...campaig n=rss