Microsoft Releases Windows 8 Developer Preview

Microsoft has released the Windows 8 Developer Preview.  This download is a full version of the pre-beta Windows 8 build and is chock full of disclaimers regarding its stability.  Needless to say, I had to download it and give it a shot.  The download (2.8GB to 4.8GB) can be found linked off the front page of the Windows Dev Center.  I decided to download the full version with all the Metro development goodness though there is a lighter version without all the developer tools.

The Windows 8 Preview Guide (PDF) is pretty impressive.  It is a nice, clean overview of Windows 8.  Of course, the net is going to be saturated with info in just a few days now that it is publicly available.  I also highly recommend checking out the Build Keynote which provides some of the eye candy you can look forward to.

I wasn’t as surprised to see ARM support as Microsoft has made it clear it was coming.  I was surprised to see a 32-bit version for download.  I suppose it might be a bit lighter weight (at .8GB < the x64 version) for those just wanting to pull it up in a VM to give it test run.

I was excited when I saw the Live Connect technical preview (site doesn’t work w/ Chrome) until I realized it is only the SDK.