A quick heads-up on today’s release of the much-anticipated Windows “8” beta:

Windows Server “8” Beta
This is the next release of Windows Server, Windows Server “8” and is available for x64 architectures only. You can download Windows Server “8” Beta ISO or VHD here.

Windows Server “8” RSAT for Windows 8 Consumer Preview
The Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 8 Consumer Preview enable you to manage Windows Server “8” Beta from computer running Windows 8 Consumer Preview. You can download the Windows Server “8” Server Remote Administration Tools for Windows 8 Consumer Preview here.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview
This is the desktop client OS available for x64 and x86 architectures. You can download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview here.

Some (online) documentation which you might find useful:

• Install, Deploy, and Migrate to Windows Server “8” (includes Release Notes)
• Windows Server “8” Data Sheet
• Windows Server “8” Overview
• Windows Server “8” Beta Evaluation Resources

The Windows “8” operating systems are available English, French, German, Japanese or Simplified Chinese. Like with all beta bits, it’s not recommended to use this in your production environment so use them in a lab or testing environment only.

Update: From an Exchange perspective, it may be worth mentioning that the Windows 8 Customer Preview contains a simple built-in Mail application supports Autodiscover and the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol. The client will show up in the “Mobile Phones” list in OWA (they might need to relabel that in the next Rollup). The Mail app in the Customer Preview reports as “DeviceUserAgent : WindowsMail/16.2.3237.0215”. Wiping your Windows 8 client isn’t possible, but the e-mail account with all the related data will be removed instead, which isn’t consistent with the expected “Mobile Devices” behaviour in my opinion. I also wonder what your security officer will think of this when you’re running the Mail app on a Windows 8 tablet, e.g. Slate. Exchange fellow Dave Stork has done some more research including screenshots for your reading pleasure here.