September 17, 2014. It's officially iOS8 day.  Apple likes to stagger release days to help amp up excitement levels. As you know, last week was the big announcement week for the new iPhone 6, 6 Plus as well as the Apple Watch and Apple Pay systems.  Today is the software launch, and Friday, of course, is every Apple Geeks Christmas because it is an iPhone delivery day for pre-orders!

So, iOS8 has been available to Apple-approved developers for several months now, via several versions of the beta for testing purposes. We tried out several here, and as usual, the fun wears off quickly on betas because of crashes and bugs.  But, this never stops the developers here from giving new beta's a whirl. Our developer-in-training son loves to get the beta's and show them off at school.  Apple is touting iOS8 as "the biggest iOS release ever"! Let's talk about some of the key features of iOS8 below, shall we?

1. Interactive notifications.  Stay on task and answer texts as quickly as you want. Reading an article and you get a text, no problem! You no longer have to exit that article to reply. Now you can reply without leaving the app you were in!

2. iMessage. With improvements to iMessage, you can now add voice to your messages, send a video and you can manage group conversations. Want to get out of a group message that has gone awry? Simple, exit it or mute it.

3. QuickType. With the introduction of QuickType, Apple will make messaging quicker and easier has the app learns your tendencies and will make suggestions based on whom you are speaking to and what your writing style is based on previous conversations.

4. Health. Turn you iPhone into a health a fitness tracker by utilizing the Health app. Monitor your nutrition, fitness levels and more via the new HealthKit.

So there are 4 highlights of today's anticipated release of iOS8.  Typically the release comes later in the day, lunch time or a bit later. Expect slow download times today since all the tech fanatics will be lined up and watching for it to pop up as available to download. I am sure you will catch one of the plethoras of announcements via Twitter when it is ready and waiting. Are you going to join the masses and download it today, right at release time? Or will you wait till say tonight or tomorrow even to avoid the rush?  What key feature has you the most excited?  I would love to hear your thoughts about the newest release! Happy iOS8 day!