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It appears that Microsoft has started another run of the marketing tactic that has proven effective for it in the past, which a lot of media outlets have previously coined "rolling thunder". MS is certainly not the creator of this strategy, but across multiple product lines, MS has built pretty decent buzz when it has trickled out info at a steadily increasing pace up until the actual product launch. This time around, it is Windows 8 that is getting the treatment.

Microsoft recently launched its blog for Windows 8, called "Building Windows 8". I have also seen rumor of a Twitter account, but I have not been unable to track it down. One of the most significant statements in the new blog is reference to a potential pre-release build of Windows 8 that may be made available before the end of the year. Targeted primarily at developers, the blog and pre-release are designed to open a discussion on Windows 8's design and implementation throughout the remainder of the development process. The blog cites lessons learned in previous Windows version releases, and indicates that MS is attempting to respond to complaints from the developer community about how little is known about Windows 8 so far.

The Windows 7 beta was a wonderful experience. Having access to the pre-release candidate accomplished a few things. It restored a disillusioned public's faith in the Windows platofrm, after the poor reception of Vista. Second, it allowed people to become comfortable with some of the new GUI implementations so that when the retail release hit, we were not learnign it for the first time.

Hopefully, Microsoft's continuing trend to engage developers and users early will pay off this time, as well. I am happy to see a desktop build coming, but what would be really interesting would be a pre-release that could run on ARM. I am not convinced this is likely, but there is always the chance that something will get out into the wild, whether officially endorsed by Microsoft or not. Dell is actively testing Windows 8 builds on their tablets, so hopefully MS will be able to deliver on its promise of a single release window that covers all platforms.

Source: MaximumPC