Windows 8 global launch kicked off with event in Shanghai, China

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Windows viii, the much predictable PC OS, was only launched in China a few hours ago, although many are still waiting for October 26 - the fateful mean solar day. As nosotros empathize, the global launch of Windows 8 will be marked past not one single event, but a whole serial of them. The launch will beginning in China (October 23rd ten:00am local fourth dimension), and end with the US party on October 26.

Today'due south Shanghai event isn't exactly heady, generally because we have already known pretty much everything about Windows 8 through the 2 preview versions and the RTM version. Nonetheless, the presence of Microsoft Surface tablets can somewhat compensate the lack of surprise. Chinese site WPDang was invited to the party, and live blogged the whole thing. To conclude it, highlights of the events are:

Steven Sinofsky was there. Yeah Sinofsky the homo. Not on a Surface skate lath though.
Over 50 Windows 8 devices in the hands-on zone, varing from tiny tablets all the way up to all-in-ones.
Surface RT, of class, with all 5 colors of Touch Covers. Monkeying effectually immune. WPDang had some fun with information technology, apparently.
Availability of Windows 8 Bone won't happen today. Will have to wait till the end of the United states of america result.
Apparently Xbox Live has been ripped off from the Chinese version of Surface, most likely because video gaming consoles are forbidden by Chinese laws, therefore Xbox 360s are non allowed, consequently Xbox Live and the Xbox make fall into a gray zone. Curiously Xbox Music seems to exist there.
They danced Gangnam Style on the stage. Seriously.

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Side to side comparison: Surface RT (left) is a chip thinner than the New iPad (correct).

As WPDang'south cursory comment put information technology: "[When surfing the spider web] The scrolling animation is as smooth equally that on Windows Phones, more fluid than iPads. All Flash videos nosotros tested play perfectly." Bully to know.

Some more pictures below. For fifty-fifty more nice pics of the event and Surfaces, click the source link to find them on WPDang.

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Surface RT, red cover. Looks bang-up.

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Big happy family unit.

Surface hands-on: spider web browsing

Surface hands-on: overview

Sources: WPDang, WPDang (video),lead picture credit: Microsoft Red china.

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