Windows 8 Developer Preview release

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DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE NOW!!

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/home/



If you’ve been following this blog, then you know today is a big day for the Windows team. At the BUILD conference we are about to preview Windows 8. There’s a ton to see in the product and so we’d really encourage everyone to check out the available streams on http://buildwindows.com, where we will webcast the keynote. The BUILD conference this week is focused on developers and hardware partners, and there are over 100 sessions (all of which will be available from the link above within about a day of the scheduled presentation time). In that sense it is good to keep in mind that today is the launch of the developer opportunity for Windows, not the launch of a product (and certainly not the launch of new devices).

Windows 8 represents a reimagining of Windows from the chipset to the experience. Since this is a week focused on developers, we also detailed the bold underpinnings of the re-imagination of the Windows platform, tools, and APIs. We will show off the opportunity to build applications for all of the customers of Windows 8, no matter what type of PC they have—from tablets to laptops to convertibles to desktops. We will show the brand new tools that allow you to code Metro style applications in HTML5/JavaScript, C/C++, and/or C#/XAML. The investments you have made as developers in all of these languages carry forward for Windows 8, which lets you choose how to best make use of the Windows 8 system services. We talked about Windows 8 being a no-compromise OS for end-users, and it is also a no-compromise platform for developers.

Many are interested in Windows 8 for ARM processors. Everything we showcased today at BUILD also runs on the ARM-based Windows PCs being created by ARM partners and PC manufacturers. Windows 8 running on ARM will ultimately be available with ARM-based hardware that you can purchase. ARM requires a deeper level of integrated engineering between hardware and software, as each ARM device is unique, and Windows allows this uniqueness to shine through. The new development tools enable you to start today to build Metro style applications that will seamlessly run on x86 (32 and 64 bit) or ARM architectures. Even if you use native C/C++ code, these tools will enable Metro style apps to target specific hardware if you choose. As new PCs become available for testing, PC manufacturers will develop seed programs for developers.

You probably want to try out the preview release—and you can. Starting at 8PM today, Seattle time, you can download all of the code that attendees at BUILD received. This includes 32 or 64 bit x86 builds, with or without development tools. The releases also include a suite of sample/SDK applications and the SDK (please note these are merely illustrations of potential apps, not apps that we intend to ship with Windows 8). The ISOs are linked to from http://dev.windows.com. You download with a Windows Live ID (which you might want to use to test out some of the new roaming features).

Upgrade from Windows 7 installation is not supported for pre-release code; only clean installs are supported. Reminder: this is a developer preview release and is not meant for production. It is not a beta release. We will be updating the release with various quality updates and drivers over the coming weeks/months just to exercise our overall update and telemetry mechanisms.

We’ve got a lot more blogging to do. So stay tuned. This blog continues to be a big part of the development process. Now we have a lot more shared context, and so we expect folks commenting on posts to be running the Preview so we share in the context of the release. Let’s keep comments focused on the topic at hand and we’ll pay attention for potential new topics. We know there will be a lot—that comes from reimagining a product used by a billion people!
--Steven

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See also:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...-usb-dvd-windows-8-developer-preview-iso.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...dows-upgrade-windows-8-developer-preview.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2241-virtualbox-install-windows-8-developer-preview.html
 
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You need to do the gesture to get the start menu. Whether that closes the App or not I don't know but it gets you out of it.
 
OK, maybe I'm missing something...

Say I open an app like Piano...anyone know how to minimize or close out the app? Right clicking brings up a menu at the bottom, but no matter what I do, I can't get maximize/minimize/close buttons to pop up. Any ideas?

Try clicking the left mid part of the screen. Works for me to get me out.
 
Yeah, I can get back to the desktop by doing that, but it doesn't actually close out the app, as can be seen by doing alt+tab. The only way I've found so far is pulling up Task Manager and ending it that way.
 
I've just tried to install Windows 8 from within Windows 7 as I want to dual boot it but the install starts and then asks for a Product Key -help!!!
 
Yeah, I can get back to the desktop by doing that, but it doesn't actually close out the app, as can be seen by doing alt+tab. The only way I've found so far is pulling up Task Manager and ending it that way.

Haaaa haa we're locked in a continuous loop of Apps.
 
Yeah, I can get back to the desktop by doing that, but it doesn't actually close out the app, as can be seen by doing alt+tab. The only way I've found so far is pulling up Task Manager and ending it that way.

Haaaa haa we're locked in a continuous loop of Apps.

It's a serious point though. If you can't close an App then it's just going to is there hogging resources.
 
Yeah, I can get back to the desktop by doing that, but it doesn't actually close out the app, as can be seen by doing alt+tab. The only way I've found so far is pulling up Task Manager and ending it that way.

Haaaa haa we're locked in a continuous loop of Apps.

It's a serious point though. If you can't close an App then it's just going to is there hogging resources.

Don't worry Shawn will figure a way out for us soon, just try to stay calm.
 
I have the same issue with ie10. No way to close it or do much else. Strange thing is, I installed from within 7, if I click ie10 from the tabs there are no controls, bookmarks and no way to close it. If I click ie10 from the task bar it looks exactly like ie9, with tabs and all of the menu options. I checked and it says ie10 from the task bar. Something is bad wrong with this set up. Sure would like to know how to get back to the normal start menu with apps without turning it back into windows 7.
 
Just installed Win8 on my netbook (dual-boot with win xp) and i have some troubles: 1) no os selection screen on start 2) tiles doesn't work (only explorer and config ones seems to do anything) ;'<

Ok I had no selection screen either, so when I was in the Developer, I typed in Msconfig and went in there to the boot section and selected the windows 7 that I wanted to boot from as the default, and then closed down then when I rebooted the selection screen was back and showed all options to boot from, try that and let me know how you get on.
 
I haven't figured out a way to close an app yet other than killing it in Task Manager. Pressing the Windows key while in an app takes you back to the Start screen. Pressing Windows key again takes you back to the last used app.
 
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I have the same issue with ie10. No way to close it or do much else. Strange thing is, I installed from within 7, if I click ie10 from the tabs there are no controls, bookmarks and no way to close it. If I click ie10 from the task bar it looks exactly like ie9, with tabs and all of the menu options. I checked and it says ie10 from the task bar. Something is bad wrong with this set up. Sure would like to know how to get back to the normal start menu with apps without turning it back into windows 7.
Try Right-clicking on the IE Window. That brings up panels on the top and bottom of the screen. Top lets you add new or select between open tabs. Bottom shows address bar, refresh icon, forward/back icons and lets you do things like Pin that page, search within page, etc... If you have a touchscreen you can swipe down from the top of the screen (I can;t verify this since I don't have a touchscreen).

If you click within the address bar it will show you a panel with frequently visited pages on the left and pinned pages on the right. You can also search by typing something to search for in the address bar.
 
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Got rid of the metro UI, ha. After that its business as usual. MS will need to add some zing to make me switch to 8.
 
It seems that Metro is more like a smartphone OS than a traditional PC OS. In Android, for instance, many apps don't have a way to exit, they run in the background and the OS manages them, closing them when memory is needed for something else. I'm sure there will be apps available for Win 8 very soon similar to "Advanced Task Killer" for Android.

As it is, Win 8 seems like 2 different OSes bolted together. Metro being a phone OS bolted together with Win 7 underneath. Hopefully, by the time Win 8 is released the integration between the two will get better.
 
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