Windows 10 to launch at the end of July - slip by AMD CEO Lisa Su

Microsoft Windows 10 to launch earlier than expected

Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system will be launched at the end of July - earlier than expected. That is according to AMD CEO Lisa Su, who let the date slip in a conference call with press and analysts.

Explaining why AMD's results have continued to slip, she blamed the ongoing uncertainty around Windows 8.1, but looked forward to the second-half of the year when this will have been resolved by the release of Windows 10.

"What we also are factoring in is, you know, with the Windows 10 launch at the end of July, we are watching sort of the impact of that on the back-to-school season, and expect that it might have a bit of a delay to the normal back-to-school season inventory build-up," she said in the earnings conference call.

The launch date has not yet been confirmed by Microsoft, except to reveal that it would be this summer. It had been expected that the release of the operating system would be timed to coincide with the launch of new microprocessors from Intel, which has been expected in August or September - just in time for the Christmas sales rush.

Likewise, AMD CEO Su also expects sales to pick up in the second half of the year as organisations and individuals make long-delayed PC purchasing decisions. However, a survey earlier this year of Chinese and Taiwanese electronics manufacturers suggested that neither Windows nor Intel will instigate a spike in PC sales.

Unusually, Windows 10 will be available as a free download to anyone already running Windows 7 or Windows 8.x as Microsoft bids to shift as many users as possible onto the same code-base.

Part of the aim of Windows 10 is a move to a more "as a service" model, with Windows running on servers, PCs, smartphones and other devices sharing broadly the same code-base. Microsoft's strategy is that apps developed on one version of Windows should be easily ported and run on any other version, notwithstanding raw power requirements.