• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, March 20, 2012

Purportedly ready to reshape the mobile landscape, reports suggest that Microsoft will debut Windows 8 by October.

“The Redmond, Washington-based company … aims to take back sales lost to the iPad and reinvigorate the sluggish PC market,” reports Bloomberg. Critically, “the initial rollout will include devices running Intel Corp. and ARM Holdings Plc chips, making good on Microsoft’s promise to support both standards.”

“Putting Windows 8 on sale in October would allow Microsoft to take advantage of the busy holiday season,” writes VentureBeat. “Presumably, that could give retailers selling Windows 8 devices a nice marketing boost. That’s a good thing if you consider how depressed the current PC market is right now.” 

"If they miss the September-October time frame, they’re going to be stuck without being able to ship anything in 2012,” Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg, tells Business Insider. “The last thing Microsoft wants to have is a situation where there are no compelling Windows tablets at a time when the new iPad looks like it’s going to be a good seller for the holidays."

Some analysts, however, are doubting whether Microsoft can meet the rumored deadline. “I don't think it's realistic," Michael Cherry, an analyst with Kirkland, tells PCWorld. "While the Consumer Preview shows progress from the Developer Preview, it is still extremely rough, and many things are broken.”

Still, even if Microsoft does make its October debut, it will have what Computerworld calls “a skimpy tablet lineup -- five or fewer.” If true, “That doesn't bode well for Microsoft's hopes to eat into the iPad and Android tablet market shares.”

“Having fewer than five devices, though, would offer consumers only slight alternatives to Apple's hugely popular iPad,” CNet seconds. “That said, some Microsoft partner [sic] may also make tablets running x86 chips, though those devices would likely be bulkier than iPads and the ARM-powered Windows 8 gadgets.”