Get Up to Date on Windows 8 (and try it out too!)

The Windows 8 Start Screen

For those of you who don't know about it, Windows 8 has been in dev since 2011. Windows 8 has a new metro style design that is specifically designed for easy use with touchscreen and stylus devices! It also has support for ARM processors and x86 microprocessors from Intel & AMD! Here's a history of prior milestone leaks and the link to the official developer preview!

Milestone leaks

• A 32-bit Milestone 1 build, build 7850, with a build date of September 22, 2010, was leaked to BetaArchive, an online beta community, and to P2P/torrent sharing networks as well on April 12, 2011.^[8] Milestone 1 includes a ribbon interface for Windows Explorer,^[9] a PDF reader called Modern Reader, an updated task manager called Modern Task Manager,^[10] and native ISO image mounting.^[11]

• A 32-bit Milestone 2 build, build 7927, was leaked to The Pirate Bay on August 29, 2011^[12] right after many pictures leaked on BetaArchive the day before.^[13] Features of this build are mostly the same as build 7955.^[14]

• A 32-bit Milestone 2 build, build 7955, was leaked to BetaArchive on April 25, 2011.^[15] Features of this build included a new pattern login and a new file system known as Protogon, which is now known as ReFS and only included in server versions.^[16]

• A Milestone 3 build, build 7971, was released to close partners of Microsoft on March 29, 2011^[17] but was kept under heavy security. However, a few screenshots were leaked. The "Windows 7 Basic" theme now uses similar metrics to the Aero style, but maintains its non-hardware accelerated design, and also supports taskbar thumbnails. The boxes that encase the "close, maximize, and minimize" buttons have been removed, leaving just the signs.^[18]

• A 64-bit Milestone 3 build, build 7989, leaked to Win7vista on June 18, 2011^[19][20] after screenshots were revealed on MDL (My Digital Life) forums.^[21][22] An SMS feature, a new virtual keyboard, a new bootscreen, transparency in the basic theme, geo-location services, Hyper-V 3.0, and PowerShell 3.0 were revealed in this build.^{[23]
  INFORMATION PROVIDED COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA}

^{For the official developer release, click here}