Today Joe Belfiore announced on the Blogging Windows blog that the Windows Insider Program has reached the 1 million registrations milestone which equates to a lot of people using the Windows 10 Technical Preview. You can read more in the blog post – Checking in on the Windows Insider Program.

Microsoft’s Terry Myerson and Joe Belfiore this morning unveiled the next version of Windows which had until now been known by the internal code name “Threshold”.  You can read more about the announcement today from this blog post written by Terry Myerson himself: Announcing Windows 10.

Kevin Gallo today blogged about Universal Windows apps on Windows 10 and you can read more about that in his blog post Universal Windows apps get better with Windows 10. If you’re more interested in Windows 10 for business users then you should read the blog post by Jim Alkove entitled Introducing Windows 10 for Business.

Windows 10 is a seriously exciting release for all of us at Microsoft and we’re really excited that you can join us along the journey as we refine the release over the coming months.  You can learn more about the Windows Insider Program from Joe Belfiore and be among the first to see Windows 10 and provide feedback on the release.

Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be blogging more about Windows 10 and along with the series of blog posts I’m writing a book about Windows 10 for developers, more on that soon.

Sign up for the Windows Insider Program and join me here over the coming weeks to learn more about Windows 10!

If you’re new to writing Windows Store apps you may also want to check out my book, Professional Windows 8 Programming: Application Development with C# and XAML.

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Windows 8 Pro is now available for pre-order on Amazon for just $68.88, pre-order your copy today and get it the day it’s released on October 26th!

Amazon is also offering those that order Windows 8 Pro a $30 Promotional Credit for orders placed between 6:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) October 15, 2012, and 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) October 27, 2012. The complete terms and conditions of the promotional credit are listed below.

Terms & Conditions

To Receive $30 Promotional Credit:

1. Purchase one of the following Windows titles from Amazon.com:

▪ Microsoft Windows 8 Pro,

▪ Microsoft Windows 8 Pro Pack.

2. 30 days after your item is shipped, you will receive an email with a promotional code worth $30 on Amazon.com. The next time you are shopping on Amazon.com, paste the promotional code in the Promotional Code box at checkout, and the discount will be applied at the Order Summary screen during purchase.

Terms and Conditions:

▪ Only those purchases made between 6:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) October 15, 2012, and 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) October 27, 2012 are eligible to receive the $30 promotional code.

▪ Credit expires February 28, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time), or while supplies last.

▪ Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel this offer at any time.

▪ The promotion applies only to qualifying pre-orders displaying the offer message on their product information pages.

▪ Applies only to products sold and shipped by Amazon.com. Does not apply to products sold by other sellers.

▪ If you return a savings item, the savings value will be subtracted from your return credit.

▪ The promotion is limited to one per customer.

▪ Void where prohibited.

“Picking up a tablet PC with Windows 8 makes an iPad feel immediately out of date.” – Tom Warren /via @verge Windows 8 Review

It is an exciting time to be a Windows developer.  The arrival of Windows 8 is a complete game changer.  The operating system and its development platform offer you an entirely new way to create rich, full-featured Windows-based applications.  Along with my fellow authors we you on a journey through all of the new development features of the Windows 8 platform and specifically how to utilize Visual Studio 2012 and the XAML/C# languages to produce robust apps that are ready for deployment in the new Windows Store.

Professional Windows 8 Programming: Application Development with C# and XAML covers these topics and much more:

• Learn how to utilize XAML to create rich content driven user interfaces
• Make use of the new AppBar to create a chrome-less menu system
• See how to support Sensors and Geo-location on Windows 8 devices
• Integrate your app into the Windows 8 ecosystem with Contracts and Extensions
• Walks you through the new Windows 8 navigation system for multi-page apps
• Minimize code with Data Binding and MVVM design patterns
• Features tips on getting your app ready for the Windows store
• Maximize revenue for your app by learning about available monetization strategies

With Windows 8 launching on October 26th there are so many cool new devices coming that it’s making my head spin. I just stumbled upon this machine on Amazon for only $1599 with a dual screens, one 11.6” HD-LED screen as well as an 11.6” LED touch screen, wild!!!

The PC also comes with an Intel Core i7 processor, 256 Gb SSD, and 4Gb of memory and will be released October 26th. Order Yours Now

ASUS 11.6” touch-based Windows 8 laptop now available for pre-order on Amazon for only $599.00, will be available on October 26th. Order Yours Now!

Operating System: Windows^® 8 Home Premium (64-bit)
Processor: 3rd Gen Intel^® Core^™ i3-3217U (1.8GHz)
Memory: 4GB DDR3
Display: 11.6" LED Backlight HD (1366X768) capacitive touch panel with multi-touch functionality

Storage: 500GB HDD
Graphics: Intel^® GMA HD
Battery: 2 cell with up to 5 hour of battery life¹

Windows 8 Pro is now available for pre-order on Amazon for just $69.99, pre-order your copy today and get it the day it’s released on October 26th!

Windows 8 will also be available as a download for those who don’t want the DVD for $39.99.