Gates: New Windows 8 system is 'very exciting'

NEW YORK —Microsoft founder Bill Gates says the new Windows 8 operating system scheduled for release next month is a very exciting new product and a very big deal for the world’s largest software maker. Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press that he is already using Windows 8 and I’m very pleased with it. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s biggest overhaul of Windows in more than a decade and the company’s attempt to stay relevant and exciting in a world where mobile gadgets have started to overshadow personal computers.
 
Microsoft will release Windows 8 on Oct 26 along with a new version of Internet Explorer. Windows 8 will replace Windows 7 on practically all personal computers sold to consumers. It features major changes in the way consumers interact with their machines, and versions of it will also run on tablet computers and smartphones.
 
Although Microsoft has grown into much more than a maker of computer operating systems providing computer services to corporations and Xbox gaming machines to game enthusiasts Windows still accounts for a significant chunk of the company’s annual revenue.
 
In 2011, Microsoft’s “Windows & Windows Live” division generated 27%, or $19 billion, of the company’s $69.9 billion in annual revenue.