Free Windows 8 Beta download

[blueiedgod]

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

[EdmundH]

Set expectations correctly.... This is NOT a beta but really a alpha. A lot is missing (e.g. media center) and a lot doesn't work quite right... (There is a new BSOD screen that's been posted.)

Ed

[nadspink]

definitely different. metro seem to be strictly made for touch screens. you can get around in it but without the use of hand gestures it's a little awkward. wish they had included media center just to see what was in it.

[trooper11]

well we wil get a proper beta and then we should get a taste of media center. this is mostly a preview for devs to get to know the metro ui and start making apps.

[tommo]

I wonder when they said 'it will be in windows 8' whether they media center as we know it or a ported version from mcml to metro.

[trooper11]

thats a good question. it really could go either way.

on the one hand, i think it could be a great boon for developers if MC was rebuilt in a more common set of tools versus MCML.

on the other hand, maybe MC needs a completely new interface to accomodate all the changes in UI, features, and hardware that it will be used on.

cant wait to see how it develops. even in the worst case where we just get 7MC ported over, I would be fine with that (along with bug fixes of course). I just have a feeling they will be doing more than just porting.

[mark1234]

I tried Win8 this morning on my laptop. Not impressed.

I have, and love, a WP7 so I get Metro as a phone UI, but not on a proper PC. Using a laptop with a touchpad isn't the greatest mousing experience anyway, so I use the keyboard a lot and Win8 Metro is not keyboard friendly. At all. After realising that I couldn't tab between fields I gave up on it and spent the next five minutes trying to find the restart button so I could retreat back to Win7.

Win8 Metro might be fine on a tablet, if there is a market left for anything other than an iPad 3 by then, but not, please not on a real PC.

[holidayboy]

I'll give it a whirl on my touchscreen laptop when I get time, it does look great for tablets.

[mmatheny]

Is there a way to ditch Metro and go back to the original desktop? There is a Desktop panel, but as soon as you click Start it takes you back to the Metro interface.

[mark1234]

That's so annoying, isn't it?

Anyway, not tried it as I'm back in proper Win7 now, but it looks like just a single registry key change:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-enabl ... windows-8/

[blueiedgod]

I don't have Kinect, has anyone tried using Win8 with Kinect?

Metro may work well if used with Kinect instead of mouse and keyboard.

I agree, Metro looks like it was meant to touch screen devices.