Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Public Beta) Released, Download Now

It's not been a long time when Microsoft released a free Developer Preview build of its upcoming OS "Windows 8" to public. We all were pretty much excited to give it a test drive. Some of us liked it but some of us got disappointed with it. There are many things which have been changed or added in Windows 8 such as new "Start Screen" which has replaced the good old Start Menu in Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2010 like Ribbon UI in Windows Explorer and many other things.
Today Microsoft has released a free Consumer Preview build of Windows 8 to public. You may consider it as a public Beta build, Microsoft has decided to call it as Consumer Preview build.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available in English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, and Japanese.

Since its a beta build, you should get better performance and lesser bugs compared to the previous Developer Preview build.
There are many noticeable changes in this Consumer Preview build such as removal of Start button, a little bit modified Ribbon UI in Windows Explorer, new login screen, better Start Screen, etc.
Interested people can download Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Beta) build using following download link:

Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Public Beta)
Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Public Beta) ISO Images
Direct Download Links for Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Public Beta)

The first download link contains Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup which includes an optimized download and built-in tools for creating an ISO or bootable flash drive. Alternatively, you can download the ISO image using second link. Third link contains direct download links for all available editions of Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 will expire on January 15th, 2013 so you can enjoy it for approx. one year.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup will check to see if your PC can run Windows 8 Consumer Preview and select the right download. Setup also features a compatibility report and upgrade assistance. Built-in tools for creating an ISO or bootable flash drive are available for some previous versions of Windows (excluding Windows XP and earlier).
One more thing, you can upgrade to Windows 8 Consumer Preview from Windows 8 Developer Preview, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP, but you might not be able to keep all of your files, programs, and settings.
If Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup asks for a product key at the time of installation, you can type any of following keys:

NF32V-Q9P3W-7DR7Y-JGWRW-JFCK8
DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J

You can also download following interesting stuff about Windows 8:
Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide
Download Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Public Beta) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Posted in: win 8