Windows 8 Trial Officially Released as a 90-Day Enterprise Edition

When Windows 8 was signed off for release to manufacturing (RTM) on August 1, in no time flat it was available on file sharing sites, much to Microsoft’s annoyance. Now, for those who don’t want to go down the illegal route to obtaining this software, risking embedded malware infections in the process, Microsoft has released an official trial version of Windows 8 for users to try out. The trial lasts for 90 days and is the Enterprise version, in both 32-bit and 64-bit builds, downloadable as ISO files which can be burned to DVD. Note that the trial version cannot be upgraded to the the full retail version when the 90 days expires. Instead, the retail version must be installed clean.

So, what’s different about the Enterprise version? It includes all the features of the Pro version, but with a few business-focused options like Windows To Go, DirectAccess, BranchCache, and RemoteFX virtualization. The trial version is available at the link below and Windows 8 is now also available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. The full retail release of Windows 8 happens on October 26.