Windows 8 build 7989

Windows 8 build 7989 is a pre-Developer Preview build of Windows 8, which was originally released on 18 June 2011 in the x64 architecture, then on 8 February 2020, an x86 checked/debug version of it was uploaded to BetaArchive.

Changes

 * The Windows Preinstallation Environment of this build is technically the first to use the Windows Basic theme, however, since the x64 version's ISO files use the WinPE of Windows 7, this can only be seen on the x86 version.
 * The boot screen was changed back to the one seen in Windows 8 build 7973 (fbl_core1_kernel_npc).

Redpill
A tool named Redlock can be used to unlock all of the Redpill levels on this build, including the Start screen.

Continuing on with the evolution of Metro starting with build 7973, in many ways, the unlocked features in this build are a middle ground between the early Milestone 2 Metro of builds 7927 to 7963 and the closer to final looks of builds 8032 and 8056. The Start screen now has the "Start" header, along with the Other Programs UI being replaced with the Applications list. The Charms bar now has a clock appear along with it, along with the Settings charm being redesigned, adding some non-functional toggles for the Power, keyboard, and a placeholder toggle called "VanUI", possibly standing for View Active Networks.

The Aero theme is also updated to a more flat and squared theme, resembling the Windows Basic of this build.

Interestingly, in this build, it is already possible to change the accent color of the start screen, however there are only two colors available. To do this, open regedit, go to  and create a DWORD named   and set it's value to 1. When you logoff and logon again, the start screen will be a different blue gradient.

When the "Share" button from the charms bar is clicked, a file called shrscr.png is created in the %temp% folder, with a cat and text saying "U can haz no pix" on the top and "GIMME FISH" along a number on the bottom. The "U can haz no pix" is probably a reference to the strict NDA that existed during Windows 8's development, implying no pictures of the build can be shared.

This build is one of the last to include the ability to use the desktop wallpaper as the logon screen background.

Compatibility
To install or run this build in VMware Workstation, you must set the hardware compatibility to version 8.x; otherwise, a partially garbled system crash message will occur.

EFI
The x64 version of this build appears to not support hardware with EFI, due to being bundled with an x86 7600 WinPE setup. To try and solve this, copy x64 7989's install.wim into an x64 7600/7601 WinPE setup, or deploy the image through DISM - this fix does not work for all UEFI configurations.

Start screen

 * When enabling Redpill, the start screen may appear to be empty.
 * There appears to be an option to "uninstall" the desktop on the start screen. However, selecting that option does nothing.

Aero Glass in Starter and Home Basic
This build automatically enables Aero Glass transparency even when installing the Starter or Home Basic SKUs, which is not supported by default. However, changing the color scheme (visual style) to another one and then back to the default one will disable Aero Glass.

Timebomb
Unlike other Windows 8 builds, it contains a broken timebomb and can be installed on the current date.