Microsoft spending more than $1.5 billion on Windows 8 rollout
Analyst calls Microsoft's big launch "a big risk"
This October, Microsoft is going big with the launch of an entirely new ecosystem that includes Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Phone 8, and the Microsoft Surface tablet. It's Microsoft's chance to succeed in a market increasingly dominated by Apple and Google's mobile operating systems. According to analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group, the huge launch is a "big risk" for the Redmond giant.
"Windows is one of their pillars and pretty much the foundation for everything," Enderle told Forbes.
Microsoft is spending between $1.5 and $1.8 billion for the launch, a far cry from the $200 million spent on the Windows 95 launch.
"The marketing effort is on a scale you don't see outside presidential elections," Enderle added.
According to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft is already hard at work on the next iteration of Windows, code-named Blue, with a possible release in Summer 2013.[Image Via The Register]