The official ISO images for Windows 8 have been made available by Microsoft on MSDN and TechNet Subscriber Downloads on the morning of scheduled August 15th, 2012 for free download.
The retail version of Windows 8 is released as a single ISO image (excluding N edition), which supposedly can be used to install any editions of Windows 8 based on the product key entered; while VL (Volume Licensing) version of Windows 8 has two ISO images for Windows 8 Enterprise edition and Windows 8 Pro VL edition separately. Both 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs are available.
MSDN and TechNet subscribers also can get free limited number of product keys to activate Windows 8. However, there are reports that Microsoft server is churning out the following error message instead, probably due to excessive requests that come in:
An unknown service exception occurred. Please try again or contact customer support with the following reference id.Reference Id: XXX77777This error has been logged with the reference number noted above. Please use this reference number if you contact support.
Checksum hashes for official Windows 8 ISO images:
Windows 8 (x86) English
2511 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_x86_dvd_915417.iso
SHA1: 22D680EC53336BEE8A5B276A972CEBA104787F62
2511 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_x86_dvd_915417.iso
SHA1: 22D680EC53336BEE8A5B276A972CEBA104787F62
Windows 8 (x86) English-United Kingdom
2443 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_x86_dvd_915479.iso
SHA1: 7EAD7DA86426F554C41849B750BF29C74B9B3D5D
2443 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_x86_dvd_915479.iso
SHA1: 7EAD7DA86426F554C41849B750BF29C74B9B3D5D
Windows 8 (x64) English
3416 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso
SHA1: 1CE53AD5F60419CF04A715CF3233F247E48BEEC4
3416 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso
SHA1: 1CE53AD5F60419CF04A715CF3233F247E48BEEC4
Windows 8 (x64) English-United Kingdom
3348 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_x64_dvd_915412.iso
SHA1: 79ED9958CF1690DD8A60A0B1B15F5DCC76C8E625
3348 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_x64_dvd_915412.iso
SHA1: 79ED9958CF1690DD8A60A0B1B15F5DCC76C8E625
Windows 8 Enterprise (x86) English
ISO|English|Release Date: 8/15/2012|Details
2433 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_enterprise_x86_dvd_917587.iso
SHA1: FEFCE3E64FB9EC1CC7977165328890CCC9A10656
ISO|English|Release Date: 8/15/2012|Details
2433 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_enterprise_x86_dvd_917587.iso
SHA1: FEFCE3E64FB9EC1CC7977165328890CCC9A10656
Windows 8 Enterprise (x86) English-United Kingdom
ISO|English|Release Date: 8/15/2012|Details
2365 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_enterprise_x86_dvd_917588.iso
SHA1: 9B282E9C640C0D073291E25A9ECB1F17F7A3274C
ISO|English|Release Date: 8/15/2012|Details
2365 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_enterprise_x86_dvd_917588.iso
SHA1: 9B282E9C640C0D073291E25A9ECB1F17F7A3274C
Windows 8 Enterprise (x64) English
3329 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_enterprise_x64_dvd_917522.iso
SHA1: 4EADFE83E736621234C63E8465986F0AF6AA3C82
3329 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_enterprise_x64_dvd_917522.iso
SHA1: 4EADFE83E736621234C63E8465986F0AF6AA3C82
Windows 8 Enterprise (x64) English-United Kingdom
3261 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_enterprise_x64_dvd_922086.iso
SHA1: 3C6317B4736E8A38E7697F56FF3F8C11383827E7
3261 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_enterprise_x64_dvd_922086.iso
SHA1: 3C6317B4736E8A38E7697F56FF3F8C11383827E7
Windows 8 Pro VL (x86) English
2431 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_pro_vl_x86_dvd_917830.iso
SHA1: 548AB51161FD83B889596B143D86C1EEB61EF2D0
2431 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_pro_vl_x86_dvd_917830.iso
SHA1: 548AB51161FD83B889596B143D86C1EEB61EF2D0
Windows 8 Pro VL (x86) English-United Kingdom
2362 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_pro_vl_x86_dvd_917831.iso
SHA1: EB174B47C592056BE22763AC800912F7ED65939C
2362 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_pro_vl_x86_dvd_917831.iso
SHA1: EB174B47C592056BE22763AC800912F7ED65939C
Windows 8 Pro VL (x64) English
3327 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_pro_vl_x64_dvd_917699.iso
SHA1: 6DDEDEBE40AB59CB11823F62F475C43C4053FE60
3327 MB
File Name: en_windows_8_pro_vl_x64_dvd_917699.iso
SHA1: 6DDEDEBE40AB59CB11823F62F475C43C4053FE60
Windows 8 Pro VL (x64) English-United Kingdom
3258 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_pro_vl_x64_dvd_917700.iso
SHA1: 246B1F8EF2EC3BA6993B9313EED7ACC569FBF383
3258 MB
File Name: en-gb_windows_8_pro_vl_x64_dvd_917700.iso
SHA1: 246B1F8EF2EC3BA6993B9313EED7ACC569FBF383
To download your copy of Windows 8, visit MSND Subscriber Downloads or TechNet Subscriber Downloads.
Note that the hashes for the official Windows 8 ISOs are different from the previously leaked Windows 8 ISO images from WZOR. So if you’re downloading the previously leaked ISOs, you may want to download the official versions again.
On MSDN, Visual Studio 2012 has also been released.
Not a subscriber? It’s just a matter of time before the ISOs been uploaded and shared via BT and file hosting sites.