Microsoft will ship Windows 8 Release Preview today, several days earlier than expected, according to a blog briefly posted by the company.

The blog post, written by Chuck Chan, an executive with the Windows development team, went live for a few minutes late Wednesday, long enough for several users to take notice.

Microsoft state that unlike traditional release candidates — which are feature complete, in that all final features are included — Windows 8 Release Preview is unfinished.

The Release Preview will be available here. Microsoft will presumably post additional information about the Release Preview, including installation instructions, alongside the download.

Mind you I just clicked on the link and its not there yet. Did Mr Chan jump the gun?

Install the preview on a test PC or on a separate partition you create on your computer.

Protecting your investment in your current version of Windows that you have installed, the applications and data files is what is important. Create an Image Backup of your hard drive !!!