2012 Technology Year in Review: Windows 8 (October)

On October 26, 2012, Microsoft launched their newest operating system, Windows 8, designed for traditional PCs and tablet computers. Made as the successor to Windows 7, it came to mixed reviews by the general public. Many praised it as a success for touch environments, but disappointing for PCs without touch functionality. As many tablets are powered by ARM processors, this is the first version of Windows that will work on both x86 and ARM devices. However, for usage on ARM devices, Windows RT must be used, and existing x86 programs may not be compatible with that version of Windows.