Tired of just hearing about Windows 8 all the time? Well then, you’re in luck — Microsoft  has finally released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to the public, so people outside of the tech bubble finally have the chance to take Redmond’s new OS for a spin.

Be warned though: the file sizes range from 2.5 to 3.3 GB depending on your preference between the 32-bit or 64-bit versions, so you may be downloading for quite some time.

Hopefully the download process isn’t too much of a headache — according to Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky, they’re already bracing themselves from the hordes of Windows 8-hungry users. The servers seem to be coping with the load just fine for right now (thanks for the heads up, commenters), but wee’ll see how things progress as more people hear about it.

Alongside the long-awaited download links, Microsoft has also provided users with the necessary system requirements for running the Consumer Preview, and they’re just as lax as what Windows 7 required. While a 1GHz processor and DirectX9 or later are a must, the rest of the requirement depends on which version of the OS you would like to run. If you’re a 32-bit type, you’ll only need 1GB of RAM and 16GB of disk space, while those of the 64-bit persuasion need at least 2GB of RAM and 20GB available on their hard drives.

The preview can be downloaded here — enjoy!

[via TC]

If I can get my hands on virtualbox, I'll get it

Virtualbox is free, dude.

Ill be testing this in my own VM as soon as im not lazy.

I know. I might download it in the future

(01/03/2012 01:03 PM)Jem Wrote:  I know. I might download it in the future

(couple of weeks actually, once one month has passed on my mobile broadband)

Yeah, my usage is running up to the limit at this point (It starts on the third on every month). However, it would be cool to check it out on a VM when that resets. I'm not feeling great about the new 'Start Menu', though. If I used a tablet, then the Metro interface might be cool.

Maybe this will be more usable than the developer preview. In it, everything was just a placeholder.