Windows 8 Professional Edition Leaked in Build 8306
Microsoft has plans for evolved editions
If you were wondering if Microsoft would only release a standard edition of Windows 8 this October, unsurprisingly, new evidence has emerged that suggests that won't be the case. This time, a version newer than the Consumer Preview was extracted from servers and testers were able to find references to a Professional Edition of the upcoming operating system.Known as Build 8306, this version is not the Release Candidate we were all waiting for, but a post-beta as users like to call it. WinUnleaked discovered the build and after a successful installation, evidence of a Professional SKU file was tracked.
This Windows 8 Pro edition will include Windows To Go, a feature which allows companies to distribute a bootable copy of the OS to employees, using an USB stick, as well as an upgrade option for other versions.
It seems that the Pro edition will not be the top of Microsoft's line-up, the currently leaked build containing a Windows Anytime Upgrade which allows users to add extra features by upgrading to a new edition of Windows 8. Signs backing up this feature were also seen in the Consumer Preview, where references of a Professional Plus build, alongside Enterprise and Ultimate editions.
Other note-worthy discoveries made in build 8306 include the temporary return of the old Developer Preview boot screen, Microsoft's Confidential Winver branding from Windows 8 M1/M2 and the use of M3 EULA for the Pro SDK.