Windows 8/Server2012 Preview - Available now!

"Note: This prerelease software will expire on June 30, 2012. To continue using Visual Studio 11 after that date, you will have to install a later version of the software.

In order to develop Metro style applications, the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview must be installed on the Windows Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit. Developing Metro style applications on other Preview versions of Windows 8 is not supported."

"Note: Windows Vista doesn’t support development with the .NET Framework 4.5."

"Note
The .NET Framework 4.5 Beta is included with Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows Server 8 Beta, so you do not have to install it separately on those operating systems."

"Prerequisites:
    In order to install the .NET Framework 4.5 Software Development Kit feature, the .NET Framework 4.5 redistributable package must be installed before the Windows SDK is installed. This release of the Windows SDK does not include a .NET Framework Redistributable Package."

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library … 00360.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library … 65137.aspx
C++ AMP provides access to the GPU for general-purpose data parallelism on video cards that support DirectX 11.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/03 … _windows8/
..."over at Redmond, the Metro team appears to be completely out of control, like the Red Guard during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. They’ve sent the educated to the countryside to dig trenches, and for good measure broken their spectacles."

..."But the Maoists have dictated that this ephemeral layer must become the new shell."

Windows 8 is shaping up to be Microsoft’s best mainstream OS to-date, but that hasn’t stopped criticism of the platform, even bringing one former team member out of the woodwork to try to “fix” it.

"I am a User Experience (UX) & software usability testing expert. I would love to work some day at Microsoft on Windows UX or in Testing. I am a self-described perfectionist so I am constantly striving for fixing what I consider design & UX flaws. I have a good understanding & vision of how to construct a great UI. It may appear from my blog that I am anti-Microsoft but that is not the case. I have a passion for Windows like very few people have, but my penchant for UX perfection brings out my criticism for Windows when it's necessary. I am open to working with the Windows team to fix design & UX issues. I believe things aren't as well as they used to be in UX at Microsoft since Vista; products are being designed without consideration for power users, features that are essential are being cut & familiarity, backward compatibility are no longer the top priorities. I have experienced Microsoft products from their very early days & have a very clear idea of how to build it all in a backward compatible way without compromising on innovation & new features to win customers. Since November 2009, I am a UX consultant for Classic Shell."

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/
"What is Classic Shell?
Classic Shell is a collection of features that were available in older versions of Windows but are removed from Vista and Windows 7. It has a classic start menu for Windows 7, it adds a toolbar for Windows Explorer and supports a variety of smaller features. There are 3 major components - Classic Explorer, Classic Start Menu and Classic IE9. Look here for the full list if features.
What is the story behind Classic Shell?
The project started back in 2008 as a small utility to replace the copy UI for Vista. In 2009 a friend switched from XP to Vista and complained that the Up button was missing. That was the second feature that was implemented. Later in October 2009 I switched to Windows 7 and was very disappointed that the classic start menu was gone, so I went to make my own. After the start menu was done I decided to make this project public and added it to Source Forge. The rest is history.
What are the system requirements of Classic Shell?
Classic Shell supports Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. There is only one installer for all and it covers both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Of course some features like the classic start menu are more useful on Windows 7 than on Vista.
Does Classic Shell support Windows 8?
Starting with version 3.5.0, Classic Shell supports Windows 8 Consumer Preview. It adds a new customizable start button and some of the features have been disabled because they are not possible on Windows 8 or no longer make sense - like the status bar enhancements, the copy dialog replacement, and the Up button.
That said, Windows 8 is still not final (as of March 2012), so it is possible that version 3.5.0 will not work with the final Windows 8 build.
As of version 3.5.0 Windows 8 Developer Preview is no longer supported. Only versions from 3.3.0 to 3.4.1 work with Windows 8 DP.
Is Classic Shell Free?
Yes, Classic Shell is free and open-source software.
To use the binaries you must comply with the included license. In a nutshell it says you can't sell the software or blame the author for any damages.
To use the source code you must comply with the MIT open-source license."

"And here's how to immortalize your copy of Windows XP so Microsoft can't kill it by working with its partners to pull driver support and forcefully make it obsolete:
1.  Virtualization: Use a product like Parallels Workstation Extreme. With virtualization, drivers get out of the equation and you can forever run Windows XP. Parallels Workstation Extreme will also virtualize high performance graphics and network with near-native performance. Currently, Parallels Workstation Extreme requires high-end workstation-class CPUs like Intel Xeons and NVIDIA Quadro or AMD FireGL/FirePro. In the future, Parallels is likely to allow consumer-class CPUs and GPUs.
2.  When security upgrades end for Windows XP, run as standard user and use SuRun to elevate apps as admin that don't run as administrator. In fact, even now, you should switch to standard user accounts and start using SuRun. SuRun behaves exactly like Windows Vista/7's UAC.
3.  If you are an end-user/consumer, get the last supported high performance consumer platform: Intel Sandy Bridge-Extreme (X79) chipset and Core i7-3960X on which you can run Windows XP with full AHCI support. With the next chipset revision, Intel may not release AHCI and chipset drivers for Windows XP."

"Yes I know, it's a shame Microsoft software today requires third party fixes to complement and make it work properly. Don't tell me you have ignored the list of features removed in Windows Vista or in Windows 7.
You may think why is XP still my idea and it is rather foolish to not "upgrade" to Windows 7. XP still kicks ass Don't believe the fanboys who are blind or the mainstream media which is clueless and just parrots what one "expert" says. In many areas, Windows 7 is a downgrade, not an upgrade. XP hit the sweet spot for sufficiently powerful, customizable yet easy to use computing. I am a power user and if Windows 8 makes you feel that the OS is getting dumbed down to the point of uselessness, I feel pretty much the same about Windows 7, which is also extremely dumbed down from a power user's perspective. The geek in me refuses to accept Windows 7 as a viable replacement for the more-customizable Windows XP. As a power user I cannot make compromises about quality and Microsoft's commitment to quality is decreasing by the day.
I wrote hundreds of Wikipedia articles on Microsoft and Windows topics with over 5000+ contributions before realizing that they were cheating their users by removing features. Agreed software engineering is about tradeoffs but just deleting features people use and want is just ridiculous. I want Microsoft to acknowledge these issues and fix them through hotfixes or service packs."

"FAQ/Known Issues for Windows Media Center in Win8 Consumer Preview"