Microsoft unveils Windows 8

Microsoft has released the company's eagerly anticipated operating system this morning, in the form of Windows 8.

Unveiled at their New Zealand headquarters in Auckland, the software maker says the new system is its biggest haul in nearly 20 years.

Last month CEO Steve Ballmer said the company was enjoying an ‘epic year’ alongside the scale of the release of Windows 95 by kicking off one of its biggest series of launches in history.

Ballmer who believes the release of Windows 8 surpasses that of Windows 95, telling The Seattle Times in September:

“You know, Windows 95 was certainly the biggest thing in the last 20 years until now,” Ballmer says.

“I think Windows 8 certainly surpasses it.

“It’s a little hard to compare things like the founding (of the company) and the introduction of the first popular PC and the system that popularized it, but it’s at that scale.

“We’re trying to really re-imagine the world from the ground up with Windows 8.

“And then people orient their development schedules around Windows 8 and its new properties and attributes.”

Microsoft's most secure operating system is available for download at NZ$49.99 or to buy on disk from retailers for $89.99.