Windows 8 'release preview' due in early June

Windows 8 "release preview" coming in June.

Microsoft will release a "release preview" version of Windows 8 will be released in the first week of June, the company announced this evening.

Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky made the announcement during an on-stage appearance at Japan's Windows 8 Dev Days and more broadly on the Build Windows 8 Twitter feed.

The release preview follows a beta and is the last stage before a product's final version. The beta, or consumer preview, of Windows 8, came out on February 29. A recent report suggests that the final version of Windows 8 will launch this October

Windows 8 will be a big test for Microsoft. Windows 8, which aims to unify Microsoft's flagship OS on the desktop and tablet, is "the most integrated and most capable operating system Microsoft has ever put out," according to CNET Reviews Editor Seth Rosenblatt.

Windows 8 is tooled to run on on ARM chips as well as so-called x86 chips that power traditional PCs. Microsoft officials announced the Windows 8 SKU lineup last week and shared details about some of the features in the coming version.

                                                                                          (courtsey:cnet.com)