MSDN and TechNet subscribers will only get the final build of 8.1 in October

Aug 28, 2013 11:52 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has really angered MSDN and TechNet subscribers who wanted to get the final bits of 8.1 these days, as the company recently announced that its new OS update would launch in October for everyone.

Developers usually receive early access to specific software, including the Windows operating system in order to have enough time to tweak their apps and prepare new products for the upcoming releases.

This time, however, Microsoft is only providing OEMs with 8.1 RTM, while devs and end users will get the product on October 18.

This pretty much caused a new avalanche of criticism to fall over Redmond, with lots of developers heading over to the company 8.1 RTM announcement to express their frustrations.

Here are a few comments posted on the Blogging Windows page since yesterday:

“In a world inhabited by pink unicorns and pixie dust, the advice in this post would be sufficient. However we live in the real world last time I looked out the window. In the real world, developers must have access to the RTM bits before GA. The fact that Microsoft no longer seems to understand this truly frightens me.”

“The advice to use a pre-release OS and pre-release development environment to update production software is disturbing to say the least.”

“We can only hope MS will stop this joke, makes a quick XBOX180 style turnaround. Something tells me though it won't happen, so now have a couple of months to start seriously looking at alternatives, hopefully find some where at least I get some honest feedback instead of this marketing department c**p.”

“Microsoft's decision to withhold Windows 8.1 RTM to developers and volume license customers is a significant mistake. It further discourages developers and enterprises to adopt its new operating system by introducing unnecessary delays and roadblocks to readiness activities. It really defies logic.”

Microsoft, on the other hand, claims that all developers can still use Windows 8.1 Preview to create apps, even though a major difference in performance is very likely to experience.

In the meantime, devs are left with no other choices than to either wait for the final release or install one of the many leaks that would most likely reach the web in the next hours.