14 DAY TRIAL // The number of testers with access to pre-release copies of Windows 8 is bound to increase as the development process moves forward and approaches the Beta stage.
Microsoft has confirmed that it will deliver the first deep insight into Windows 8 in mid-September 2011 at its BUILD Windows conference, and the software giant is also expected to share a pre-release Build at least with participants, if not with as many testers as possible.
Piles of interim Builds of Windows 8 have already been complied, with number of releases even served to early adopters outside of Redmond.
In addition to such testers, Microsoft employees have also been dogfooding early development milestones of Windows 8, per the software giant’s “eating one’s own dog food” tradition.
The problem thus far is related to the extremely limited access to pre-release Builds of Windows 8.
With the BUILD event now sold out and just a few weeks away, the Windows 8 communications strategy is moving into its next phase. Case in point: the new Building Windows 8 Blog and @BuildWindows8 Twitter account.
But the translucency veil lifting from the Windows 8 project is only a prelude of a shift in the Windows 8 testing strategy, with Microsoft gearing up to broaden the pool of early adopters who will be able to take the next generation of the Windows client out for a spin.
“Folks asking about getting pre-release bits...we promise it will be easy and not a secret,” the company tweeted via @BuildWindows8 yesterday.
Windows 8 is believed to still be in Milestone 3 (M3) stage at this point in time, with some recently leaked details and screenshots depicting Build 8064.
And while Windows 8 pre-release will be easy and not a secret, Microsoft continues to keep mum on just what exactly will happen at BUILD, and whether it will release a pre-Beta or the fully fledged Beta to testers.