Microsoft has announced that Windows 8, the company's next PC operating system, will arrive on October 26.

The release date was revealed by president of the Windows and Windows Live division Steven Sinofsky at Microsoft's annual sales meeting, but was later posted on the official Windows blog.

Microsoft previously announced that its new Surface tablet will hit retail on the same day as Windows 8. The firm didn't reconfirm this along with the Windows 8 announcement, but if it's still the plan we'll see the lower end Surface device arrive on October 26, with the Pro model appearing at some point in early in 2013.