Download Windows 8 Release Preview now

The Release Preview for Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 has just gone live. Those who are wondering what’s a Release Preview is, then let me break down Microsoft’s standard nomenclature for its almost final product, which is released just before its commercial launch for final tweaks. In the world of Windows an alpha release is called a ‘Developer Preview’, a beta release is called a ‘Consumer Preview’ and the finally a ‘Release Preview’ which stands somewhere between the Release to Manufacturing build and the Consumer Preview. The Release Preview will come preloaded with some Metro Style apps but other than that it will be more or less the same as the Consumer Preview. Of course, under the hood the Release Preview will be a different story altogether as it will be more stable.
Some of the new apps that will come pre-loaded with Internet Explorer 10, new Windows 8 apps for connecting to Hotmail, SkyDrive, and Messenger (and many more), and hundreds of new and updated apps in the Windows Store. Microsoft has further enhanced software and hardware compatibility with the Release Preview. In addition to this, Microsoft has also addressed a number of security vulnerabilities found in the Consumer Preview making the OS even more secure. Interestingly, the last minute UI tweaks for the Windows Explorer will not be a part of the Release Preview as Microsoft intends to reveal them in the final build of the OS.
Those interested can download a copy of the Windows 8 Release Preview here, but let us warn you that this is not the final build of the Operating System so one should not expect the kind of stability one gets from, say Windows 7. That said, in our experience the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 has turned out to be incredibly robust with it crashing only once in the last three months.