Now we move into interesting times. After some announcement in Barcelona (I was asleep near Redmond getting my first decent sleep since Friday night – jetlag) Microsoft has launched the following two releases:
- Windows Consumer Preview : This is the desktop OS with a marketing label for the beta. I think there is also a VHD download but I’ve linked the ISO. .
- Windows Server 8 Beta: What it says on the tin.
If you go for the VHD route, then check out Hans Vredevoort’s post on how to do a boot from VHD for this release.
Additional content is also available:
- The Consumer Preview Remote Server Administration Toolkit (RSAT) for managing the server from your desktop.
- Windows Server 8 Introduction
- A TechNet guide to install, deploy, and migrate to Windows Server 8 – now we’re getting serious!
Expect the information dump to start from Microsoft, and expect your local Microsoft office to start communicating over the next week.
I’ve kicked off my server downloads at the Hyatt in Bellevue at the MVP summit. It appears that the other residents (mostly MVPs) have also done this …. so my download will complete in 3 or so days. Ah well, I’m sure the guest wifi network on campus can handle 1000+ of us doing a download 
I cannot wait for the last bits of the lab at work to get delivered so I can get building.
Yeah, Time to download! Only if I was home where I had the fast internet connection.
Aidan, has new Hyper-V Server been made available for download as well? I’d love to play with it as well 🙂
It has not.