When Microsoft released Windows 7, the company was roundly criticized for introducing far too many versions of the operating system, with no fewer than six different and confusing SKUs available from the low-end Windows 7 Starter to the mainstream Windows 7 Home Premium and the pricey Windows 7 Ultimate. It seems Redmond has learned from its mistakes as the company announced it will release just two main versions of Windows 8 that consumers and businesses can buy, along with a separate edition that only comes preloaded on tablets with ARM-based processors.
The two main versions of Windows 8 break out as follows: