Windows 8 Release Preview Out Later Today: Redacted Blog Post

btarunr · May 31, 2012

A blogger with Microsoft's Driver Developer Blog, none other than Chuck Chan, Corporate Vice President of the Windows Development team, jumped the gun in revealing the availability of Windows 8 Release Preview. The now-redacted blog post was screen-grabbed by Neowin.net, and pins the availability of the latest iteration of Microsoft's next-generation operating system to later today (May 31).

Entitled "Windows Hardware and Driver Developer Blog," the blog post by Chan focused on areas of driver and system software development ahead of the operating system's market launch. Windows 8 Release Preview would serve as a fairly reliable platform for developers to test their system software on. A transcript of the blog post is quoted below. Download links to Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 8 Driver Kit, and Visual Studio 2012 Professional can be found after the break.

DOWNLOAD: Windows 8 Release Preview | Windows 8 Driver Kit | Visual Studio 2012 Professional

The above links become active later today. A transcript of the blog post follows.

Welcome to the Windows 8 Hardware blog! I'm Chuck Chan, Corporate Vice President on the Windows Development team. We're very excited to make available today the Windows 8 Release Preview on the Windows Dev Center. Windows 8 represents a leap forward for the Windows platform, the development tool set, and the device experiences you can build for Windows. We're launching this blog to give you some insight into how we designed and
built Windows 8, and to explore the best practices for developing great
hardware and drivers, as you enter the new world of Windows 8 development.

The people contributing to this blog are the engineers building Windows 8 and the tools and kits that support it. Our goal is to help you get started by focusing on the "why" and "how" of building amazing PCs and device experiences for Windows 8. Each blog post will present a development topic and tie together information from the Dev Center, Forums, MSDN Library, and where it makes sense, samples from the Windows Hardware Code Gallery.

We designed the Windows 8 platform and tools to help you create high-quality drivers and Metro style device apps using an integrated, modern tool set. Using the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) and Visual Studio, you can write, build, sign package, deploy, test, and debug your drivers and apps directly from Visual Studio. With the new Windows Hardware Certification Kit, you can ensure the compatibility and reliability of your devices, and provide a great overall user experience.

To get started, download and install Windows 8 Release Preview, the Windows Driver Kit 8, and Visual Studio Professional 2012. The Windows 8 SDK is also included with Visual Studio. As you begin using Windows 8, you'll notice that we've added new features and improved existing ones. In addition to providing a modern tool set, we've also been hard at work improving power management and refining the way you provide a great user experience for devices with Metro style device apps. We'll share more details in future posts.

The Windows Development team will post to this blog once every one to two weeks until the release of Windows 8. Commenting is encouraged, and we are looking forward to a lively conversation. Please apply common courtesy and stay on topic with your comments. The Windows Hardware Community Forum is also a great place for hardware-related questions and discussion about Windows 8.

We can't wait to see the amazing devices and experiences you're building for Windows 8 come to life!

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

JKnows · May 31, 2012

Bastard Microsoft why cannot say exact time for availability? I have been wasting all of my day for waiting to click download link :banghead:

.

TheMailMan78 · May 31, 2012

I'm not really hyped for Windows 8. Doesn't seem to offer anything I want so far.

Stephen. · May 31, 2012

I'll download just to install and confirm it's shit/trash,... Oh well another one bites the dust, that's how i see it.

D007 · May 31, 2012

I only care about one thing.. How does it run games? Better or worse?

AlienIsGOD · May 31, 2012

when i used the early preview build, i did find system resources to be a little bit lower, most notably ram usage. I really dont like that they are getting rid of Aero Glass and that ribbion UI seems annoying to me. I'll stick with 7 for now and maybe when I build my kids PC i'll throw 8 on it.

FreedomEclipse · May 31, 2012

If it bleeds - we can kill it

KainXS · May 31, 2012

"'prays that its not shiet"

I really want a new windows but everything they show me makes me want to throw my desktop at them.

FreedomEclipse · May 31, 2012

KainXS said:
"'prays that its not shiet"

I really want a new windows but everything they show me makes me want to throw my desktop at them.

Is windows 7 not too your satisfaction?

nINJAkECIL · May 31, 2012

Dear Microsoft,
Please bring back the start button.
That's what makes Windows a Windows.

Thank you.

jtech · May 31, 2012

not too shabby

to be honest, w8 will be nice. been testing, and it has the metro feature for tablet users, old school windows interface for xp through w7 fans, and best and most importantly, it runs VERY thin. This bodes well for gamers and enthusiast users. while processors are getting more powerful, w8 consumes about 10-15% less resource than 7. Also, for those on the up and up, a play out of the apple playbook, your phone 8 will sync with your tablet 8 and your desktop 8, and even your SYNC equipped vehicle. Looking forward to seeing it all come to fruition.

TheOne · May 31, 2012

It is up Windows 8 Release Preview ISO Images.

phanbuey · May 31, 2012

jtech said:
to be honest, w8 will be nice. been testing, and it has the metro feature for tablet users, old school windows interface for xp through w7 fans, and best and most importantly, it runs VERY thin. This bodes well for gamers and enthusiast users. while processors are getting more powerful, w8 consumes about 10-15% less resource than 7. Also, for those on the up and up, a play out of the apple playbook, your phone 8 will sync with your tablet 8 and your desktop 8, and even your SYNC equipped vehicle. Looking forward to seeing it all come to fruition.

the problem with that is that it is microsoft and few things ever seem to work so magically. Plus who the hell wants a windows phone?

newtekie1 · May 31, 2012

TheOne said:
It is up Windows 8 Release Preview ISO Images.

Downloading now at an impressive 100KB/s...

PopcornMachine · May 31, 2012

FreedomEclipse said:
If it bleeds - we can kill it

[ARNOLD]Get to the chopper![/ARNOLD]

KainXS · Jun 1, 2012

FreedomEclipse said:
Is windows 7 not too your satisfaction?

I love 7, but I loved xp also, and I got tired of it from running away from vista for years, get my drift.

FreedomEclipse · Jun 1, 2012

Its not called 'running away'

Its called 'not fixing what aint broke'

why bother going to W8 if W7 is still mainstream, supported and serving its purpose??

Unless W8 has a specific features that you really need and cant live without that W7 hasnt got then why even consider W8?

Arctucas · Jun 1, 2012

TheMailMan78 said:
I'm not really hyped for Windows 8. Doesn't seem to offer anything I want so far.

Same here.

Arctucas · Jun 1, 2012

phanbuey said:
the problem with that is that it is microsoft and few things ever seem to work so magically. Plus who the hell wants a windows phone?

+1.

Arctucas · Jun 1, 2012

FreedomEclipse said:
Its not called 'running away'

Its called 'not fixing what aint broke'

why bother going to W8 if W7 is still mainstream, supported and serving its purpose??

Unless W8 has a specific features that you really need and cant live without that W7 hasnt got then why even consider W8?

Agreed.

D007 · Jun 1, 2012

newtekie1 said:
Downloading now at an impressive 100KB/s...

jtech said:
to be honest, w8 will be nice. been testing, and it has the metro feature for tablet users, old school windows interface for xp through w7 fans, and best and most importantly, it runs VERY thin. This bodes well for gamers and enthusiast users. while processors are getting more powerful, w8 consumes about 10-15% less resource than 7. Also, for those on the up and up, a play out of the apple playbook, your phone 8 will sync with your tablet 8 and your desktop 8, and even your SYNC equipped vehicle. Looking forward to seeing it all come to fruition.

Being lighter is a plus but how much can 10% useage really give you in a game? likely not much..
If I gets noticeably better game performance I'd consider it.

deleted · Jun 1, 2012

I don't get all the hate for Windows 8. I'm not a huge fan of Metro, but it's not a big deal since you only see it when you open the Start menu, and even then you should just be typing out the first three letters of the program you want to open. If you really are terrified of change, you can always install ViStart, but I think this is really a positive thing. It should encourage people to keep their icons on their Start menu, and not have icons covering their desktop like a swarm of angry bees.

Apart from that, all of the UX changes seem to be a huge step forward. Getting rid of all of the ugly faux-glass elements and finally ditching the childsafe rounded corners we've had since XP are great things. The new file transfer and task manager dialogs are amazing, and IE is slowly becoming less of a joke. IE11 might even be worth using.

And of course, I haven't even mentioned up to this point all of the real features of Windows 8: fast boot, lower resource usage, ReFS, WDDM 1.2, DX11.1, scheduler improvements, and all the rest.

Honestly, I don't see how anyone could possibly consider W8 the next Vista. Windows 8 is a step forward in every direction.

Aquinus · Jun 1, 2012

deleted said:
I don't get all the hate for Windows 8. I'm not a huge fan of Metro, but it's not a big deal since you only see it when you open the Start menu, and even then you should just be typing out the first three letters of the program you want to open. If you really are terrified of change, you can always install ViStart, but I think this is really a positive thing. It should encourage people to keep their icons on their Start menu, and not have icons covering their desktop like a swarm of angry bees.

Apart from that, all of the UX changes seem to be a huge step forward. Getting rid of all of the ugly faux-glass elements and finally ditching the childsafe rounded corners we've had since XP are great things. The new file transfer and task manager dialogs are amazing, and IE is slowly becoming less of a joke. IE11 might even be worth using.

And of course, I haven't even mentioned up to this point all of the real features of Windows 8: fast boot, lower resource usage, ReFS, WDDM 1.2, DX11.1, scheduler improvements, and all the rest.

Except with the fact that Metro turns your desktop into a tablet. I have some serious reservations about their design changes. Also if you're so into saving memory, then get rid of Windows because it isn't the OS for you if you care that much.

deleted said:
Honestly, I don't see how anyone could possibly consider W8 the next Vista. Windows 8 is a step forward in every direction.

Who cares how many resources it uses if your don't like how it is used?

deleted · Jun 1, 2012

Aquinus said:
Except with the fact that Metro turns your desktop into a tablet. I have some serious reservations about their design changes. Also if you're so into saving memory, then get rid of Windows because it isn't the OS for you if you care that much.

Who cares how many resources it uses if your don't like how it is used?

if you hate the Metro start menu so much, install ViStart and you will never have to see it.

FYFI13 · Jun 1, 2012

S. Ballmer have admitted that Windows Phone 7 "wasn't a very successful" (aka FAIL) and now they repeating same mistake with Windows 8. For tablets it can be really good, but not for laptops/desktops.

I'll rather:

-keep using Windows 7 for another 15 years
-will buy a mac
-will switch to Linux
-will go to a one way trip to a Mars

But my PC won't be running this crap.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	TheMailbox 5.0 / The Mailbox 4.5
Processor	RYZEN 1700X / Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard	Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 / Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155
Cooling	MasterLiquid PRO 280 / Scythe Katana 4
Memory	ADATA RGB 16GB DDR4 2666 16-16-16-39 / G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866: 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s)	MSI 1080 "Duke" with 8Gb of RAM. Boost Clock 1847 MHz / ASUS 780ti
Storage	256Gb M4 SSD / 128Gb Agelity 4 SSD , 500Gb WD (7200)
Display(s)	LG 29" Class 21:9 UltraWide® IPS LED Monitor 2560 x 1080 / Dell 27"
Case	Cooler Master MASTERBOX 5t / Cooler Master 922 HAF
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec / SupremeFX X-Fi with Bose Companion 2 speakers.
Power Supply	Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-750PX 750W Platinum / SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Mouse	SteelSeries Sensei (RAW) / Logitech G5
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow / Logitech (Unknown)
Software	Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Benchmark Scores	Benching is for bitches.

Processor	Intel Core i7-14700K
Motherboard	ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-H
Cooling	DeepCool AK500 WH
Memory	Crucial Pro 32GB Kit (16GB x 2) DDR5-5600 (CP2K16G56C46U5)
Video Card(s)	Intel ARC A770 Limited Edition
Storage	Solidigm P44 Pro (2TB x 2) / PNY CS3140 2TB
Display(s)	Philips 32M1N5800A
Case	Lian Li O11 Air Mini (White)
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Fanless Titanium 600W
Keyboard	Dell KM714 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

System Name	HAL
Processor	Core i9 14900ks @5.9-6.3
Motherboard	Z790 Dark Hero
Cooling	Bitspower Summit SE & (2) 360 Corsair XR7 Rads push/pull
Memory	2x 32GB (64GB) Gskill trident 6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	RTX 4090 Gigagbyte gaming OC @ +200/1300
Storage	(M2's) 2x Samsung 980 pro 2TB, 1xWD Black 2TB, 1x SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB
Display(s)	65" LG OLED 120HZ
Case	Lian Li dyanmic Evo11 with distro plate
Audio Device(s)	Klipsh 7.1 through Sony DH790 EARC.
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1350
Software	Microsoft Windows 11 x64

System Name	Aliens Ryzen Rig \| 2nd Hand Omen
Processor	Ryzen R5 5600 \| Ryzen R5 3600
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite (F61 BIOS) \| B450 matx
Cooling	DeepCool Castle EX V2 240mm AIO\| stock for now
Memory	8GB X 2 DDR4 3000mhz Team Group Vulcan \| 16GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 8GB \| GTX 1650 4GB
Storage	Adata XPG 8200 PRO 512GB SSD OS / 240 SSD + 2TB M.2 SSD Games / 1000 GB Data \| SSD + HDD
Display(s)	Acer Nitro x27OU 27" VA 165hz Freesync Premium\|TCL 32" 1080P w/ HDR
Case	NZXT H500 Black \| HP Omen Obelisk
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek \| Onboard Realtek
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650w 80+ Gold \| 500w
Mouse	Steelseries Rival 500 15 button mouse w/ Razor Goliathus Chroma XL mousemat \| Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair K65 Mini w/ Cherry MX brown keys \| Logitech G513 Carbon w/ Romer G tactile keys
Software	Windows 10 Pro \| Windows 10 Pro

Windows 8 Release Preview Out Later Today: Redacted Blog Post

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

JKnows

New Member

TheMailMan78

Big Member

Stephen.

D007

AlienIsGOD

Vanguard Beta Tester

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

KainXS

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

nINJAkECIL

New Member

jtech

New Member

TheOne

phanbuey

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

PopcornMachine

KainXS

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

Arctucas

Arctucas

Arctucas

D007

deleted

New Member

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

deleted

New Member

FYFI13

System Name	DarnGosh Edition
Processor	AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling	Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory	2x32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32-38-38-96
Video Card(s)	Asus Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage	WD SN770 1TB (Boot)\| 2x 2TB WD SN770 (Gaming)\| 2x 2TB Crucial BX500\| 2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300
Display(s)	LG GP850-B
Case	Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro\|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V573\|Speakers: JBL Control One\|Auna 300-CN\|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse	Logitech G502 X
Keyboard	Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software	Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores	ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ

Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5950x, Ryzen 9 5980HX
Motherboard	MSI X570 Tomahawk
Cooling	Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4(With Noctua Fans)
Memory	32Gb Crucial 3600 Ballistix
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 3080, Asus 6800M
Storage	Adata SX8200 1TB NVME/WD Black 1TB NVME
Display(s)	Dell 27 Inch 165Hz
Case	Phanteks P500A
Audio Device(s)	IFI Zen Dac/JDS Labs Atom+/SMSL Amp+Rivers Audio
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x
Mouse	Logitech G502 SE Hero
Keyboard	Corsair K70 RGB Mk.2
VR HMD	Samsung Odyssey Plus
Software	Windows 10

Processor	i7 3770K@4.7ghz
Motherboard	MSI Z77A-GD65
Cooling	Thermalright Venomous X black
Memory	V-GEN 4x4GB DDR3
Video Card(s)	Zotac GTX-560Ti
Storage	Crucial M4 64GB \| WD Green 1TB \| Seagate 1TB \| Seagate 500GB
Display(s)	Viewsonic VA2013WM
Case	Corsair Carbide 400R
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2ZS Platinum
Power Supply	Corsair AX750W
Software	Win7 x64
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=371985

System Name	Desktop
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5600X [3.7GHz/4.6GHz][6C/12T]
Motherboard	ASUS TUF Gaming X570-PRO [X570]
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition
Memory	G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB [DDR4 3600][2x16GB][16-19-19-39@1.35V]
Video Card(s)	ASUS KO GeForce RTX 3060 Ti V2 OC Edition 8GB GDDR6 [511.65]
Storage	[OS] Samsung 970 Evo 500GB \| [Storage] 980 1TB \| 860 Evo 1TB \| 850 Evo 500GB \| Seagate Firecuda 2TB
Display(s)	LG 27GL850 [27"][2560x1440@144Hz][Nano IPS][LED][G-SYNC Compatible][DP]
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC S1200A High Definition Audio CODEC
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G1+ [+12V: 83.3A 999.6W][80 Plus Gold]
Mouse	Logitech M570 Trackball
Keyboard	Corsair Gaming K55 RGB
Software	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro [21H1][64-bit]

System Name	stress-less
Processor	9800X3D @ 5.42GHZ
Motherboard	MSI PRO B650M-A Wifi
Cooling	Thermalright Phantom Spirit EVO
Memory	64GB DDR5 6000 CL30-36-36-76
Video Card(s)	RTX 4090 FE
Storage	2TB WD SN850, 4TB WD SN850X
Display(s)	Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case	Jonsbo Z20
Audio Device(s)	Yes
Power Supply	Corsair SF750
Mouse	DeathadderV2 X Hyperspeed
Keyboard	65% HE Keyboard
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	They're pretty good, nothing crazy.

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Vulcan
Processor	i6 6600K
Motherboard	GIGABYTE Z170X UD3
Cooling	Thermaltake Frio Silent 14
Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB)
Video Card(s)	ASUS Strix GTX 970
Storage	Mushkin Enhanced Reactor 1TB SSD
Display(s)	QNIX 27 Inch 1440p
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Cooler Master V750
Software	Win 10 64-bit

System Name	It's just a computer
Processor	i9-14900K Direct Die
Motherboard	MSI Z790 ACE MAX
Cooling	2X D5T Vario, XSPC BayRes, 3X Nemesis GTR560, NF-A14-iPPC3000PWM, NF-A14-iPPC2000PWM, IceMan DD
Memory	TEAMGROUP FFXD548G8000HC38EDC01
Video Card(s)	MSI 4070 Ti Super w/Alphacool Eisblock Aurora RTX 4070TI Ventus with Backplate :13724
Storage	Samsung 990 PRO 1TB M.2
Display(s)	LG 32GK650F
Case	Thermaltake Xaser VI
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G/Z-5500
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime PX-1300
Mouse	Logitech
Keyboard	Logitech
Software	Win11PRO

System Name	Monolith
Processor	i5 2500K, 4.6 GHz at 1.30v
Motherboard	P8Z68-V Pro
Cooling	CM Hyper 212+
Memory	2x4 GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1333 MHz CL9
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 570, 920/1840/2050 at 1.100v
Storage	SanDisk Extreme 240 GB, WD Caviar Black 1 TB
Display(s)	LG W2363D
Case	Silverstone FT02B
Audio Device(s)	Creative Audigy 2
Power Supply	Kingwin LZG-850

System Name	Apollo
Processor	Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard	Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory	64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage	1TB Apple NVMe, 4TB External
Display(s)	Laptop @ 3072x1920 + 2x LG 5k Ultrafine TB3 displays
Case	MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s)	AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply	96w Power Adapter
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard	Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software	MacOS 12.1