Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced that the new Windows 8 Operating System will be coming out in 2012. Microsoft will be planning to showcase the new Windows 8 for tablets starting next week at the All Things Digital conference.

According to Bloomberg sources, the new operating system version will run on selected tablet hardware containing the Nvidia Tegra processor. This will mean that the processor will be running the Microsoft 8 OS rather than Microsoft 7 due to the needed ARM architecture on the running processor. Microsoft has already announced that Windows 8 will be running on ARM technology.

We're obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows...Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We've done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We've added touch, and ink, and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

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, he continued.

Though the new Windows 8 was announced by Ballmer to be released in 2012, though certain company members have denied the statement.

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, said Microsoft in a released statement.

No word has been confirmed whether Microsoft will reveal any news on the company's own Windows 8 tablets. But the company is making strides toward the tablet and mobile device market other than PC's.