Windows 8.1 build 9431


 * This is the client equivalent of Windows Server 2012 R2 Build 6.3.9431.winmain_bluemp.130615-1214

This build was released on 26/6/2013 with the occasion of //BUILD/ 2013 taking place. At first, the ISOs were only avaliable through TechNet & MSDN, while it was possible to download the Store version immediately after //BUILD/ began. The ISOs were made publicly avaliable the day after, on 27/6/2013, when the day 2 keynote started.

Installation
There are two ways to install this preview: through an ISO and through the Store. However, if you have a language different than the ones support or you are running Enterprise on your machine, you are forced to use the ISO version. But if you are on an RT machine, the only way of updating is through the store.

The setup doesn't show a local account option by default. There are two ways of creating one during OOBE: Either use some non-existent e-mail adress and password, and then after the setup is unable to check your credentials there should be a local account option OR disconnect your computer from the internet and it will automatically create a local account.

Variants
The ISO version is avaliable in both x86 and x64.

On TechNet you can only download English versions. The MSDN & public release is avaliable in 13 languages: Arabic, English (US), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

On 04/07/2013, Microsoft after lots of complaints finally released the Great Britain (EN-GB) version.

If you are updating through the store, you can also get other variants of the Preview. This way, Rob Jansen managed to get Windows 8.1 Single Language Preview. However, when using the same method on Windows 8 Pro N, only thing you get is "The update is not applicable to your computer" error.

Windows RT 8.1 Preview
An RT version was also released, however the only way to install 8.1 on such a machine is through the store. On 28/06/2013, a zh-cn recovery disk was released on xunlei. It's possible to download the ESD files (basically encrypted WIMs) directly from Windows Update servers, however, the URLs have not been published publicly. Some users installed RT without problems, but many others got the infamous "The update is not applicable to your computer" error. Microsoft later noted that this was because the RT 8.1 Preview was limited to a small set of languages, and the preview site had failed to block those in unsupported markets. The error could be worked around by changing the language settings to en-US and downloading and installing the en-US language pack and setting it as default.

Embedded
On 27/06/2013, Microsoft released Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro Release Preview in its Windows Embedded Pre-Release Programs on Microsoft Connect. It is avaliable in both x86 and x64, and also in many languages.

SkyDrive
ultrawindows found some new interesting stuff in 9431 SkyDrive client. Apart from the previous SkyDrivePagesTest, which work in all the avaliable builds, 8 others exist in 9431. That makes the complete list look like this: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\CameraRollDisabled HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\DisabledState HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\IsDomainAccount HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\SkyDriveTest HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\MSAInterruptState HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\TotalSize HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\DisabledState HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\OtherSize HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\BackupSize HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\FileSize HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDrivePagesTest\ErrorState Also, this version includes HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SkyDriveOptIn key with two values: Brand & OptIn choice. This implies that there may be an subscription SkyDrive service in the future. If you set Brand to 1, you get an even more interesting thing: the SkyDrive will rebrand itself to Microsoft Drive, which shows the possibility of name change (maybe as a result of the recent BSkyB vs SkyDrive suit) or a different branding for bussiness opt-in service.

Legacy F12 tools
If you want to get the old F12 tools back, just create/change these two DWORD's in the registry to 1: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\EnableLegacyF12 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FlipF12Shortcut

Media Center
It's easy to add WMC to Windows 8.1 Preview. Just copy this key MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7 (from Windows 8 Release Preview) to the Add features dialog.

Photosynth
As in build 9385, it's possible to enable PhotoSynth mode in camera app, which is disabled by default. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Download http://www.thecollectionbook.info/downloads/Win81639385CameraSettings.zip 2. Go to %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.MoCamera_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings 3. Replace the settings.dat with the downloaded one (backup if wanted) 4. Now when you launch camera, there should be a globe icon on the right, which activates the PhotoSynth mode

Whitepapers
Windows 8.1 Preview product guide Windows 8.1 Preview Pre-release software license terms Windows 8.1 Preview additional arbitration terms Microsoft Windows Embedded 8.1 Privacy Statement

Embedded
Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro Release Preview June 2013 (may require a Microsoft account) Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro Release Preview June 2013 - direct links Documentation for Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Preview Release June 2013 Release Notes for Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Preview June 2013