The final build of Windows 8 has leaked to the internet, just a day after Microsoft confirmed it had finished the development cycle for its latest operating system – build number 9200.16384.win8_rtm.120725-1247. Neither MSDN or TechNet customers will receive access to the RTM build until August 15th, an “enterprise” version is apparently available across a number of popular file sharing sites. Consumers are not expected to get their hands on Windows 8 until October 26th, so this leak is quite a way ahead of schedule.
Following a ruling from the European Commission (EC) in 2004, Microsoft has been forced to create versions of Windows 8 that do not contain Windows Media Player as part of their competition/anti-trust agreement – these are known as “N” editions, and that is what has leaked.
As of yet we have not received any word from Microsoft about the leak, but you can be sure they will be trying very, very hard to track down the source and their lawyers will be sending out DMCA letters to the file hosting sites, but the genie is officially out of the bottle.
Source: The Verge