Bye-bye Desktop, hello Metro! Microsoft ditches standard Windows look and feel for brand new interface, as launch is confirmed for October.

Gone is the Start Menu. Gone is the Desktop. Instead, applications, widgets and social network updates appear in the form of a mosaic of tiles. Everything is touch-friendly, as you swipe across screens to access more tile.

Microsoft officially announced the time-frame for Windows 8's mass-market release this morning at a company conference in Toronto.

New versions of Windows typically come out every three years, but this update is the most widely anticipated overhaul of the software since 1995.