Microsoft said Monday Windows 8 will be available to consumers in late October as part of the software giant\'s effort to ramp up its operating system for a variety of devices. The announcement came at Microsoft\'s annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto. Communications manager Brandon LeBlanc said the company \"confirmed that Windows 8 is on track to release to manufacturing (RTM) the first week of August\" and \"will reach general availability by the end of October.\" Windows 8 will be available in 109 languages across 231 markets worldwide, he noted.