Microsoft to Release Public Windows 8 Build Tonight

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Thanks to the Windows 8 development blog Microsoft launched last month, we've been talking quite a bit about what the upcoming OS is set to feature. So far, the excitement level seems to be high, evidenced by comments made in our forums and other comment sections around the Web. Could Windows 8 outshine the success of Windows 7? Chances are good at this point.

windows_8_preview_060211_thumb.jpg

Read the rest of our post and then discuss it here!
 

cloud8521

Obliviot
im goign to wait for a later version, or release. at this point i dont have a backup computer or a large enough HD to backup everything anymore and i dont want to have to re install my previous OS. so im waiting for release i think.
 

marfig

No ROM battery
>> So, who's downloading it?

Let me put it this way: If I want to try any of the new technological innovations of Windows 8, I think I'll use Windows 7.

EDIT: To be fair, I just remembered there's native USB 3.0 support. So that's a plus.
 
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Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
EDIT: To be fair, I just remembered there's native USB 3.0 support. So that's a plus.

LOL :D

I pinged AMD and NVIDIA about the drivers that we should be using in Windows 8. There is no good answer, just install what you have and hope it works. :mad:
 

marfig

No ROM battery
Don't forget to download the What's New document on the developer preview page (bottom right). It's a somewhat comprehensive document worth the reading.

Me, I'll skip this build. There's nothing significantly interesting in Windows 8, so far, that aroused my curiosity enough to install a preview version and it's still to soon to test the OS for performance and stability issues. But there's a few highlights:

  • Dual screen taskbar support means we no longer need third party applications for that.
  • The aforementioned USB 3.0 support
  • The Windows 8 Hyper-V client. Not exactly thrilled that it requires RDC since this is a service I'd rather leave turned off, but this is still a huge thing. Especially for developers and power users, but also of a huge significance to some type of businesses which operate on top of legacy systems.

Of that batch it's the Hyper-V client that I'm most interested in. But I won't be testing that if I install Win8 on a VM. On the other hand I'm also interested in taking a look at the newly born WinRT library, particularly on how well it can integrate Metro applications with traditional desktop applications, but also on what it provides for Metro based development. But it's too soon for that.
 
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MacMan

Partition Master
I think it looks rather spiffy and I give Microsoft kudos for not copying every little detail from Apple like Android does, but brings a lot of their own unique innovation to the table. In many ways, the U.I. is even better than iOS, so Apple is going to have to add something like this to keep up:

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28673488?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/28673488">New Multitask Interface for iOS</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/marcsheep">Marcsheep</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Over all, way to go Redmond!
 

Doomsday

Tech Junkie
They are bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8! If that means i can buy and play Xbox games on me PC, even if its with an Xbox controller, then Wohoo!! :D
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
They are bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8! If that means i can buy and play Xbox games on me PC, even if its with an Xbox controller, then Wohoo!! :D

I doubt that. It will probably be just some of the functions of XBL, such as messaging, marketplace, etc. I don't think it will be capable of playing games. Microsoft would essentially be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that.
 

DarkStarr

Tech Monkey
Well... it wont boot in windows virtual PC >.> oh well. When I rebuild this PC here soon ill do a test install on it.
 
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