Microsoft knows how to start and finish a weekend!
Friday started with the Windows 8 OS and hardware from OEM partners that was built for it going on pre-order on multiple sites around the Internet. It was a good first day for the upcoming operating system on Amazon as it started the day at 120th on the Amazon Software Best Seller list and ended Friday being number one on that list.
Hitting the top of that list was a very important event for Windows 8.
Towards the end of the weekend Microsoft opened up what is believed to be a massive marketing campaign to start the final two weeks count down to the 26 October 2012 release of the OS to the world.
This commercial started to hit the airwaves this weekend and specifically was seen during two very popular programs Sunday evening. The first was Sunday Night Football on NBC and the second was the season premiere of Walking Dead on AMC. As you might imagine both of these shows draw massive audiences.
Here is the commercial:
Even the Space Shuttle gets two cameos in this commercial!
Then the other anticipated item that arrives when Windows 8 hits General Availability at the end of this month is the Microsoft Surface RT Tablet got social. The Surface team officially joined the Twitterverse this weekend and are already getting involved in the mix for Surface’s release. Check out their account at @Surface. You can also find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Surface
To close the weekend Microsoft took the wraps off their much anticipated Xbox Music Service with a blog post on the Windows Team Blog.
According to the post from Brandon LeBlanc the service will be available on the Xbox 360 console beginning tomorrow and then on 26 October for Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT machines.
The service will cost $9.99 per month on the Xbox 360 console which would also allow you to stream unlimited music on your Windows 8 machine without any ads. Starting on 26 October, when Windows 8 hits the streets, you can stream music for free on your PC or tablet but it will be ad supported.
Many users will be happy to know that Smart DJ returns along with unlimited skipping as you are listening to music on the ad supported stream.
Based on the info at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/music it also appears Windows Phone 7/7.5 users are being left behind on this as the only references to mobile streaming are to Windows Phone 8 devices.
So with all these events are are you ready to reimagine Windows computing as you know it?
