There have been rumors recently that Microsoft would be launching the public beta of Windows 8 around February of next year, and now Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 8 public beta will be available in February of 2012.

Microsoft’s Windows 8 developer preview has already become extremely popular with more than 3 million downloads since it was launched, and we suspect the public beta will be even more popular.

Microsoft has yet to confirm the official launch date of Windows 8, although we have heard previously that Windows 8 RTM is expected to be released to hardware manufacturers in July, which could mean we will see Windows 8 launch in the fall of 2012.

Source The Verge