• Final copy of Windows 8 leaks online

    The final build of Windows 8 has leaked to the internet, just a day after Microsoft confirmed it had finished the development cycle for the new operating system. Although MSDN and TechNet customers won't officially receive access to the final Windows 8 bits until August 15th, an Enterprise version of Windows 8 is available widely across various file sharing sites.

    The version leaked is an "N" edition of Windows 8 which does not include a bundled copy of Windows Media Player. Microsoft was forced to create the special N editions of Windows after the European Commission ruled in 2004 that it needed to provide a copy of Windows without Windows Media Player tied in. We reached out to Microsoft to comment and the company says it's not discussing the leak.

    Comments 6 Comments
    1. mr. nails's Avatar
      mr. nails -
      Even at free I'll pass for the time being. I haven't checked it out yet, but I can wait. I do wanna play around in it so I'll wait for someone at work to buy a win8 phone or w/e.
    1. duke0102's Avatar
      duke0102 -
      I never really understood why they're getting hassle for having there own media player and web browser. They don't lock the OS in such a way where users can't install a replacement and I'd be pissed if it didn't come with something to get me going out of the box..
    1. Cabalo's Avatar
      Cabalo -
      Media Player = People buying music via their services
      Browser = Bing = Advertising

      Makes an awful lot of sense.

      Like SkyDrive now, lots of cloud services too, but you have a "native" one.
    1. mr. nails's Avatar
      mr. nails -
      This is ONLY for a 30 day trial.
    1. megabyteme's Avatar
      megabyteme -
      I always wait until the major bugs are worked out. Well, at least hope most have been worked out...

      Win8 strikes me as a push for the "tablet future" which I'm not entirely committed to as of yet. And with Android growing so quickly, I may never be too interested in M$'s version.
    1. iLOVENZB's Avatar
      iLOVENZB -
      5177bdde9ee3f0378a82aedea01eb995cbf4b64a