Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed that it will release a public beta of Windows 8 in late February, 2012.
The company broke the news at a San Francisco developers event Tuesday, where Antoine Leblond, vice president of Windows Web services, touted Windows Store, the app market that will be the sole distribution channel for applications designed to run in Windows 8’s new “Metro” interface.
Windows Store will open to the public at the same time Windows 8’s beta ships,. While Microsoft has yet to talk about an official launch date for Windows 8, the beta’s timing hints at a fall 2012 debut, assuming the company paces Windows 8’s final development and testing as it did Windows 7’s.
