Windows 10 release date: Microsoft plans summer release

Microsoft website

Windows 10 will launch this coming summer in at least 190 countries and will be made available in 111 languages. 

At the Windows Hardware Engineering Community Summit last March 18 held in Shenzen, China, Terry Myerson, the executive vice president of Windows, Microsoft Corp., announced that even if a specific launch date is yet to be confirmed, the launch of Microsoft's newest operating system is already slated for the coming summer. 

Confirming the company's commitment for a summer release, Myerson stated in a post on the official Microsoft blog site, "Windows has always been global with more than 1.5 billion users around the world and here in China hundreds of millions of PCs operate Windows today. That's why it was particularly fun to show our latest global innovation." 

Aside from the confirmation on the operating system's summer launch, Myerson also announced a signed partnership deal with Tencent, the leading social network and gaming services company in the country. As part of Microsoft and Tencent's deal, the China-based company will offer the new operating system as a free upgrade. Tencent customers who are using Windows 7 and 8.1 will have a free upgrade to Windows 10.

Tencent's president Martin Lau said, "Tencent and Microsoft will continue to work together on a number of Windows 10 initiatives, helping bring the excitement of Windows 10 and Tencent to millions of customers worldwide." 

The company will also spearhead one of the very first Windows 10 universal apps for Tencent's QQ flagship app, to be accessed by more than 800 million users throughout China. The company is also setting out to import some of its PC games cache, like "Cross Fire," "Dungeon & Fighter," and "League of Legends," to Windows 10 and the new and improved Windows Store. 

Aside from Tencent, Microsoft is also partnering with Lenovo to set up Windows 10 upgrade services in computer retail stores and at least 2,500 service centers.