Microsoft may have just released the final version of Windows 8 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers today, but if you're feeling a little left out then the company has a trial version available too. The 90-day trial edition of Windows 8 Enterprise is available to
download immediately and will give members of the public and developers an easy way to trial the operating system ahead of its debut on October 26th. A number of trial ISO images are available for a variety of languages in x86 and x64 flavors.
Windows 8 Enterprise includes all the features of Windows 8 Pro and more business-focused options like Windows To Go — a new way to run a Windows 8 installation from a USB key. If you're simply looking to test out Windows 8 before it's available in stores then the trial version is a safe bet, but be warned you'll need to reinstall the operating system once Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro become generally available on October 26th.
About This Evaluation
This evaluation provides a 90-day trial of Windows 8 Enterprise edition. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available as ISO images in the following languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, English (UK), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish. In order to use this evaluation, you must register and the product must be activated online with Microsoft-hosted activation and validation services. Microsoft does not provide technical support for this software.
Things to Know Before You Start
• The evaluation edition will expire and cannot be upgraded.
• To upgrade, the evaluation must be uninstalled and a non-evaluation version of Windows must be re-installed from your original installation media.
• Consider running the evaluation edition in a virtual environment or installing on a separate hard drive or partition. The will allow you to upgrade your original Windows installation to Windows 8.
• During registration (required) you must login with a Microsoft account and provide your name, e-mail address and country.
• You are required to activate the product online within 10 days after installing.
• Once the evaluation is installed, you cannot upgrade. To revert to a previous version of Windows, you must do a clean install from your original installation media.
Activation and Usage Guidelines
• Back up your files and settings before installing this evaluation and again prior to the 90-day expiration.
• Upon installation, you will have 10 days to activate this evaluation online. Windows will prompt you to activate. A product key is not required for this software.
• You must complete activation before August 15, 2013, to use this evaluation.
• Once you activate, you have up to 90 days to use the software. You can track the amount of time you have left by referring to the "watermark" in the lower right corner of the Windows desktop.
• If you fail to activate this evaluation within the 10-day grace period, or if your evaluation period expires, the desktop background will turn black, you will see a persistent desktop notification indicating that the system is not genuine, and the PC will shut down every hour losing unsaved work.
• Following the evaluation period, you will need to replace the operating system on your test computer and reinstall all your programs and data. It is not possible to upgrade the evaluation to a licensed working version of Windows 8. A clean installation is required.
System Requirements
• Windows 8 works on the same hardware that powers Windows 7:
• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 20 GB
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
