Windows 8

With Windows 8 upgrades, Windows 8 laptops and Windows 8 tabletsnow having been on the market for several months, this is our definitive verdict on the full, finished Windows 8 operating system.

There are essentially two versions of Windows 8 available on the market for Intel and AMD PCs: Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. Windows 8 Pro is the version available as part of Microsoft's upgrade offer and from most retail stores, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro come pre-installed on a variety of machines.

If you want to know more about thee differences between the Windows 8 versions then read Making sense of the Windows 8 versions.

New to Windows 8?Windows 8 represents a fundamental shift in the way Windows works and is far more touchscreen-orientated for use on tablets as well as traditional PCs. If you're completely new to Windows 8 and haven't used a preview version, we'd recommend you check out our guide to the new features you'll find in Windows 8 vs Windows 7 and Windows 8: what you'll need to relearn.

If you've heard about Windows RT for ARM-based tablet devices, there isn't a version you can buy separately. It's only available on devices such as the Surface RT tablet. Check our separate Windows RT review. That's because of the extremely custom way that ARM devices are built, where not even the way to control a physical button is standard.

More details see Microsoft Windows 8 site