Knowing that Microsoft wants to spread Windows 8 to the public, they must release it during a good time.  Likely, Windows 8 RTM will be released in the fall right before school and winter shopping.  Partners such as Asus have already shown off demos of Windows 8 Tablets.  Until then, the release candidate is being tested and refined to optimize the user experience, especially the mouse and keyboard input.
Picture
Example of the new Windows 8 Metro Start Screen
 
Picture
Windows 8 builds have been proven to have faster boot times than Windows 7 and even Windows Phone 7.  It is very surprising a full desktop Os can boot up faster than a tiny mobile platform.  The video is on the Windows 8 Blog by Microsoft at the link below. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/08/delivering-fast-boot-times-in-windows-8.aspx