Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s head of Windows announced that it will start selling Windows 8 on Friday, Oct. 26, a little more than three months from now.

The company had previously announced a “late October” launch date for the new OS, but Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live unit at Microsoft announced the more specific date at the company’s annual sales meeting.

This may mean that the Windows 8 RT Surface tablets will ship then too, as Microsoft said as much in June, but we’ll have to verify that.

As a reminder, the upgrade to Windows 8 on an existing Windows computer will cost just $40, though buying an upgrade DVD will cost $70. However, since the biggest benefits of Windows 8 are in the touch interface, your better bet is to buy a system — like the Surface tablet — that’ll let you get digital.

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Some facts are still up in the air, most notably the pricing of the Surface tablet powered by Windows RT, whether other OEMs will also launch tablets at the same time, and the price of Windows 8 in a non-upgrade edition, called System Builder. That version will be required for people who assemble their own computers or for some Mac owners who want to run the new OS on their machines.

Not only will Windows 8 ship on partner devices in late October, but the company revealed that Windows 8 will, at the same time, ship in 109 countries and 231 languages.