Microsoft Corp. has issued a statement that retracts a promise made by the company's own chief executive officer to release the next-generation Windows 8 operating system (OS) in 2012. Apparently, officially, the company still has not scheduled the launch of the new OS and thus does not want to make any promises.

"It appears there was a misstatement. We are eagerly awaiting the next-generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows," a statement by Microsoft reads.

On Monday, Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp. said that the company's next-generation Windows operating system would be released in 2012, which is ahead of publicly known schedule, which is officially kept confidential.

"We are obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. [...] Yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there is a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors,: said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, during his keynote at Microsoft Developer Forum in Tokyo, Japan.

Unofficial sources have implied different launch timeframes for Windows 8 over the recent quarters. Some believed that the next OS is due in 2011, other think that the successor for the Windows 7 is scheduled to arrive in 2012 and there also those, who claim that Windows 8 is set to land in 2013.

Tags: Microsoft, Windows