Bill Gates assures Windows 8 will be "a big deal"

It's always good to hear that the most famous face of the company that's pushing a brand new operating system does think that it'll be successful – thus is the situation with Bill Gates and Microsoft's own Window 8 this week. In an interview given with the Associated Press, Gates spoke primarily on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's role in a new global campaign to eradicate polio, but as the conversation inevitably touched on the newest operating system to be offered up by the company that made him successful, Gates let it be known that Windows 8 will be great. Gates noted that he was already using Windows 8 regularly and that he was "very pleased with it."

According to Gates, "hardware partners are doing great things to take advantage of the features [in Windows 8]" and that "it'll be a big deal." With the new version of Windows hitting shelves in late October and press events leading up to that date hitting left and right, everyone in the software and hardware world is getting pumped up about the touch-friendly operating system. Earlier today Intel held a press conference showing off a new processor (ATOM X2760) tuned specifically for Windows 8 devices.

Speaking on how the operating system compares to the previous systems that've been released for PCs from Microsoft, Gates let it be known that Windows 8 is indeed "a very exciting new product" and generally appeared to be ready to praise it from top to bottom. This bodes well for the company whose "Windows & Windows Live" division brought in 27 percent ($19 billion USD) of Microsoft's total $69.9 billion in annual revenue in 2011.

Check out a selection of important Windows 8 stories and important bits we've collected recently in the timeline below. Note that Windows 8 will be appearing on a large cross-section of PCs, notebooks, tablets, and cross-overs at the end of October, and that Microsoft already has pre-release builds available for users to try right this minute. Let us know if you're pumped up to use the next generation in Microsoft wares!