As of yesterday, Microsoft has posted a preview version of the new Windows 8 operating system. Windows 8 will come with the new Metro interface (similar to Windows Phone 7) and many other enhancements which are focused on touch-gesture input. One important thing to know is that I’ve heard that many users have been able to get it running in both VMWare and VirtualBox. So you don’t need to have a fresh partition on your hard drive to simply try it out. Here is a small blurb from the download page:

“The Windows Developer Preview is a pre-beta version of Windows 8 for developers. These downloads include prerelease software that may change without notice. The software is provided as is, and you bear the risk of using it. It may not be stable, operate correctly or work the way the final version of the software will. It should not be used in a production environment. The features and functionality in the prerelease software may not appear in the final version. Some product features and functionality may require advanced or additional hardware, or installation of other software.”

Download it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516