Windows 8 build 8277

Windows 8 build 8277 is a build of Windows 8, which was uploaded to BetaArchive on 4 January 2019 as an x64 checked/debug version. It is the last build to use the flag from Windows XP, Vista and 7 in both the setup and charms bar. Despite having a higher build number than the official Consumer Preview, it was compiled nine days earlier, in a similar fashion to Windows Vista build 5712, Windows 7 build 7106 (winmain) and Windows 10 build 10102 (winmain_prs). The wallpaper has been reverted to the Windows 7 login screen background. This build still uses the Windows Developer Preview boot screen branding instead of the "betta fish" as in the official Consumer Preview build.

Unlike build 8220, this build shows the Microsoft Confidential watermark in both the desktop and winver.

Installation
Use an IDE hard drive to install this build, SATA and SCSI hard drives might encounter partitioning and formatting issues during setup.

Compatibility
To install or run this build in VMware Workstation, you must set the hardware compatibility to versions 8.x or 9.x; otherwise, a black screen with an error code of 0x0000001E or 0x0000000A will appear with text that says "Your computer needs to restart. Please hold down the power button".

Boot screen
On Legacy BIOS machines, the boot screen uses 16:9 aspect ratio, thus, i.e., on 4:3 monitors it gets stretched down horizontally. UEFI configurations are not affected.