After the big unveiling yesterday, Microsoft has now made the first Windows 8 Developer Preview build publicly available for download to all Windows enthusiast. Windows 8 Developer Preview is available for 32-bit and 64-bit systems. If you have a system that’s capable of running Windows 7, you should be able to run Windows 8 developer preview without any issue.
You can install Windows Developer Preview (32-bit or 64-bit) on your existing Windows OS and keep your accounts, files, and settings. If you are going to install Windows Developer Preview with developer tools, a fresh install is required.
Create Windows 8 Bootable USB Flash Drive
If you have a USB flash drive with a capacity of 4GB or more, you can easily create a a bootable Windows 8 USB Drive. The easiest way to turn a USB flash drive into a bootable Windows 8 installer is by using the tool Microsoft originally offered for Windows 7 – Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.
Download the tool (link below) and install it on your computer. Next, download the Windows 8 Dev Build version (links below) you want.
Once done, launch Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (should give you the below screen), choose the Windows 8 .ISO file and in four steps you’ll have your USB device ready to install on any machine.
Windows 8 System Requirements
Windows Developer Preview will work on the same hardware that is capable of running Windows Vista and Windows 7. But if you are looking for the minimum requirements, here they are:
- 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
- Taking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch
New Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts
Many new keyboard shortcuts have been introduced in the new OS. They are available for Metro UI and the new Explorer.
Global Shortcuts:
- WIN + Q – Look for application.
- WIN + W – Search
- WIN + I – Open set
- WIN + O – Turn off gyro reaction on tablets
- WIN + C – Open a simplified “Start” menu and set the date and time.
Explorer Shortcuts:
- A – Open Easy access
- C O : Copy selected items
- C P : Copy Path of the selected item
- C F : Copy to folder, using the drop-down menu
- D : Delete selected items
- E : Edit selected item
- H : Show History of the document revisions
- M : Move files to location using the drop-down menu
- N : Create New Folder
- P S : Paste Shortcut in the location
- P R : Open Properties box
- P E : Open new document, choose from drop-down menu
- S A : Select All items
- S N : Select None
- S I : Invert Selection
- R : Rename selected items
- T : Cut selected items.
- V : Paste copied items
- W : Create New Document, choose the template – using the drop-down list
Just press the ALT key in explorer to see these shortcuts as a tool tip, just like in Office 2010.
Download:
- Microsoft Office 2016 Home and Student
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2
- Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool
- Official Windows 8 Developer Preview guide
Have fun with the cool new OS. 🙂