14 DAY TRIAL // We're only a few weeks away from the public debut of the new Windows 8 operating system, but most tech-savvy users have already had the chance to experience the product thanks to the preview versions of the software.
Leaving the official Windows 8 launch aside, it's worth reminding you that one year ago Microsoft released the very first version of the new operating system, the one that featured the Metro UI and plenty of unfinished goodies.
Since then, Windows 8 evolved a lot and received two different preview versions: one that was released in February and was called a “Consumer Preview” and another one that saw the daylight in May and was baptized “Release Preview.”
Finally, the luckiest of you had the chance to experience an almost ready-to-be-launched product in August, as Microsoft officially rolled out the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) flavor of Windows 8.
There are plenty of new things in this new Windows 8 build and many others will probably come in the final release too. One of the most important is definitely the GUI, which no longer uses the Metro designation. Microsoft claims it was only a codename, so it doesn't make sense now that we're getting closer to the official launch.
With all these being said, we should remind you that you're highly recommended to update to the final Windows 8 version – once it's released, of course. The Developer Preview build will expire on January 15, 2013, so after that, just like it usually happens with free Windows versions launched for testing purposes; it will automatically restart every hour.