Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO files can be directly downloaded from the Microsoft website. If you are on a PC running Windows and want to install the consumer preview on another partition, or another PC you should download Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup and use the built-in tools for converting an ISO image into installation media, such as a DVD or USB bootable flash drive.
You should note that before you download and install Windows 8 Consumer Preview, this product is prerelease software that may be substantially modified before it’s commercially released. Some product features and functionality may require additional hardware or software. If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you’ll need to reinstall it from the recovery or installation media that came with your PC.
Microsoft’s site has published ISO images for 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, and Japanese versions. The system requirements are as follows:
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
- RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
- Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device or higher
- To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multitouch
- To access Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
- To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768
