If you are following this blog then you must have read many articles related to the Developer Preview and Consumer preview of Windows 8, but from now on we are going to talk about the “Release Preview” [ RC Build ] version of Windows 8 because Microsoft unveiled the “Release Preview” or the “Release Candidate” version of its upcoming Windows operating system codenamed “Windows 8” on yesterday.
We have published many articles related to the “Developer Preview” and “Consumer Preview” releases of Windows 8 and discussed about the changes from the previous version of windows, that is Windows 7. 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. Yesterday Microsoft has released the Release Preview build of Windows 8 to public. Since its a Release candidate build, you should get better performance and lesser bugs compared to the previous Developer Preview and Consumer Preview builds. This is a Release preview edition or RC Build, which means that there are very less chances that Microsoft will add any new feature or make major UI changes in final RTM build of Windows 8 and hence you can actually get a taste of Final version of Windows 8.
This new release comes in 14 languages and comes with Internet Explorer 10, new Windows 8 apps for Hotmail, SkyDrive, Messenger and much more new & updated apps in the Windows Store. This release is going to be the last pre-release of Windows 8 and the next release or milestone will be RTM only, Release to Manufacturing.
When you'll run Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup, it'll ask for a product key. You can use this product key provided by Microsoft: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF . This Windows 8 product key is same for all the languages and therefore you can download your installation ISO file from below and use this serial code to activate your Windows 8 for free.
Windows 8 Release Preview ( RC Build ) Direct Download Links =
You can download the ISO images of 64-bit (x64) and 32-bit (x86) Windows 8 Release preview [ RC Build ] edition directly from the Microsoft servers. Check out the Link below to Download.
English = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Arabic = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Chinese (Simplified) = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.4 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.6 GB)
Chinese (Traditional) = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.4 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.6 GB)
French = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
German = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Japanese = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Korean = 64-bit (x64 Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Portuguese (Brazil) = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Russian = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Spanish = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Swedish = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
Turkish = 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB)
The Release Preview of Windows 8 will expire on January 16th, 2013 so you can enjoy it for a few months. You can upgrade to Windows 8 Release Preview from Windows 8 Developer Preview, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP, but you might not be able to keep all of your files, programs, and settings. For now I will suggest not to use it as your primary operating system, as it is still a Release candidate Build. You can dual boot with your current installation of Windows or can test it on a virtual machine. If you are confused about these methods and have no idea what to do , then I will suggest you to wait for some time as I will publish in-depth tutorials within a few days….
Author: Nirab Sarma
Nirab Sarma is the Author and the Founder of "Learn With Nirab" and he loves blogging and social networking. You can connect with Nirab on Twitter , Facebook and also on Google+