Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will be available from the first week of August to manufacturers and end of October for customers. Speaking at its worldwide partner conference in Canada, Tami Reller, a Microsoft marketing executive, said that Windows 8 will replace Windows 7, which has sold a total 630 million licenses.
Windows XP customers can expect to pay around R300. The windows 8 release preview is still available here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/release-preview