Download and Install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview

OK, I know you're all excited to get your hands on the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. By the end of this week, I'll post installation guides for Windows 8 that cover clean install, upgrading from Windows 7, Push Button Reset, and, best of all, the new web-based installer.

But there's no reason to wait. Here are some download links for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview

This is the web-based installer. It will check to see if your PC can run Windows 8 Consumer Preview and select the right download. I was told that this installer utilizes a specially created compression scheme that is tailored to the unique format of the WIM (Windows Imagining) file that makes up the bulk of the Windows 8 download, so this is actually the fastest way to install the bits. You can, however, use this method to trigger a download as well, so that you can copy the build to a USB memory stick or DVD and install it manually that way.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO images

Looking to go the manual route? From this site, you can download ISO images that you can use to install Windows 8 to a virtual machine or burn the image to disc or copy to USB memory stick and install that way. There are 32-bit (2.5 GB) and 64-bit (3.3 GB) versions of the Consumer Preview available.

Enjoy!