According to reports, Microsoft will finish work on Windows 8 by summer, setting the stage to release the next version of its flagship operating system sometime around October.

Bloomberg, citing "people with knowledge of the schedule," also reports that there will be fewer than five devices running the ARM system-on-a-chip architecture at launch. Those ARM chips allow for thinner, lighter tablet devices, something that Microsoft hopes will help it cut into Apple's iPad's huge lead in the tablet market.