Windows 8 build 7997

Windows 8 build 7997 is a build of Windows 8 that was uploaded to BetaArchive on 29 May 2020 in the x64 architecture.

General

 * When booting via UEFI, an OEM-provided graphic from ACPI tables will be displayed instead of the Betta fish.
 * Help and Support Center received new in-app icons.
 * This build identifies as "Windows Beta" when the Prerelease SKU is used, likely an early name for the Windows Developer Preview (and technically incorrect, as the actual beta build of Windows 8 was 8250.

Redpill

 * Metro in this build is fairly similar to build 7989.
 * The two ColorSets present within build 7989 have been expanded to a full set of 24, which could be changed either via the OOBE or from the registry.
 * Lock screen wallpapers make their first appearance in this build.
 * It is now possible to use a picture password.
 * Start screen tiles now have a gradient style, rather than a flat style.
 * New transition effects appear when switching from the Start screen to desktop and vice-versa.
 * The Immersive Reader now functions properly.
 * The "VanUI" placeholder was replaced with a functional network charm.

Installation

 * To install or run this build in VMware Workstation, you must set the hardware compatibility to versions 8.x or 9.x; otherwise, a partially garbled system crash message will appear upon boot, which will say "Your computer needs to restart. Please hold down the power button", such as error 0x0000001E or 0x0000000A. This error would occur right when the system kernel takes over the startup process but immediately crashes.
 * The boot screen has rendering issues when starting setup, showing both the loading files and boot screen at once.

Start screen

 * Similar to builds 7985 and 7989, you have the option to "uninstall" the desktop from the Start screen.
 * Desktop is referred to as Desktop.lnk on the Start screen.

Charms bar
"Connect" in the charms bar does not work and Windows Explorer will crash after clicking it.

Miscellaneous
The Applications folder is not available in this build.