O RTM significa lançamento para fabricação . Este é geralmente o código / binários que é oficialmente lançado e totalmente suportado (Ao contrário do RC, release candidate ). Futuras correções de bugs e service packs serão baseados nos binários RTM.
Após o RTM, a Microsoft fornece a compilação para seu software, parceiros de hardware e OEMs para testar / criar drivers WHQL e adicionar suporte para software / hardware herdado e novo. Isso leva a algumas alterações / aprimoramentos no sistema operacional que é (até agora) lançado como um hotfix ou service pack 1.
Com o Windows 8, o lançamento oficial terá, além dos binários RTM, um patch adicional de 170 MB que contém todo esse aprimoramento e os OEMs instalarão este Windows aprimorado em novos PCs. O blog mencionando isso é aqui .
With every release of Windows we have had approximately 8-12 weeks from when we released the code to OEMs and manufacturing and when the product was available on new PCs and for retail customers. This time has historically been used to match newly developed PCs, which can include a variety of new or enhanced components, drivers, and companion software, with the final code for Windows. Because these hardware and software components are brand new, it could be the case that they uncover the need for changes and improvements to Windows in the areas of fundamentals.
We would often create dozens of changes for each OEM for these new PCs. Those changes would be deployed during manufacturing of those PCs and thus would be invisible to customers. While those changes could potentially apply to a broader range of PCs, we did not have in place the testing and certification to broadly distribute these updates. As a result, customers would have to wait until the first service pack to see these enhancements. We know many folks would spend time working to uncover these OEM enhancements in a desire to have the most up to date Windows.
During the final months of Windows 8 we challenged ourselves to create the tools and processes to be able to deliver these “post-RTM” updates sooner than a service pack.