Consumers waiting for Microsoft Corp’s revamped version of its latest Windows operating system will be able to get the software beginning on Oct. 17.
The release date for Windows 8.1 is nearly a year after the debut of Windows 8, a dramatic overhaul of the operating system that has been powering most personal computers for decades.
Microsoft unveiled its plans for Windows 8.1 three months ago, but had not set a release date until Wednesday. A test version of Windows 8.1 that may still include some bugs has been available since late June.
Windows 8 represented Microsoft’s attempt to create an operating system that works well on tablet computers, as well as on laptop and desktop machines.
However, the overhaul confused and frustrated many people, resulting in disappointing sales of devices running on Windows 8. The International Data Corp has even blamed Windows 8 for deepening the slump in PC sales as more people rely on smartphones and tablets to connect to the Internet.
Microsoft also absorbed a US$900 million charge to its most recent quarterly earnings to account for its expected losses from a company-produced tablet, called Surface, which relies on a slimmed-down version of Windows 8.
Windows 8.1 is Microsoft’s attempt to make the operating system easier and more appealing to use. It will be available as a free update to owners of Windows 8 machines.
The first laptops and PCs featuring Windows 8.1 already installed are scheduled to go on sale Oct. 18.
Separately, Microsoft said it was delaying the launch of its new Xbox One console in eight countries, while moving ahead with a November release in 13 others.
In June, Microsoft said it would start selling the new video game and entertainment console in 21 countries, but on Wednesday acknowledged the plan had been too ambitious.
The delays affect Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland. The company said it hoped to launch the device in those countries “as soon as possible in 2014.”
The 13 markets to get the Xbox One in November will be Australia, Austria, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the US and New Zealand, according to a statement from the Xbox team.
Microsoft’s new console will compete against Sony’s new PlayStation 4, which also promises to combine its film, music, television and games in a home entertainment box. It is also due for release later this year.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
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