Does anyone know when Win 10 will be available "for free", or was the announcement far in advance of the actual offer?

Thanks.  That's all that could be expected. 

Star8 Works flawlessly with Build 9921 inc search.. its a freaken life savor. The mess windows 10 is right now is unbelievable..

I also noticed they removed windows update from the control panel.. So frustrated over stupid $##%# like this

Start8 1.47 was working fine with earlier builds of Win 10 Preview but with this latest build it works fine only on Desktop side.  The only part that doesn't work is when I click on "Windows 8 Menu" it no longer takes me to Metro side.  I don't want to use Metro apps but I want to be able to access Metro side if I need to do so.  Until I learned how to get Windows Updates back in the Control Panel, I needed access to Metro side for that and couldn't get there.

I have Search on taskbar disabled (stupid idea) so I don't care if Start8 is incompatible with that and I don't want to use any Metro apps.  Is there some way though to get Start8 to allow me access to Metro side if I need it? I won't use Win 10 Preview without Start8 and Windowblinds which is partially working.  Both programs are essential for me.

Here's how to get Windows Updates back in the Control Panel:

http://www.softpedia.com/blog/Not-a-Metro-Fan-Here-s-How-to-Enable-the-Old-Windows-Update-in-Windows-10-471455.shtml

If you click the Windows 8 menu it takes you to the new OS menu.  This is Microsofts replacement for the metro side.  Start8 is not blocking anything.

What is it you need to do as you should be able to access all the settings etc from the usual Start8 options.  For example you can access Windows update simply by running the settings app from the Start8 menu which is under the all programs menu.

I have UAC disabled in the registry.  That setting has never affected Start8 on Windows 8.0 Pro or on Ten Preview until this build. The only indication of something wrong is that Start8 Menu in the current build does nothing when I click on it.  I didn't realize that Microsoft really wants to force me to use UAC in this build because that was not true in the earlier builds.

I enabled UAC and could see that MUCH WORSE (than in Windows 8) Metro junk Start menu when I clicked on Start8 Menu.  What is in this build is far more hideous than Metro side on Windows 8. On Windows 8, I can I have UAC disabled in the registry and still be able to click the Start8 Menu button and get to Metro side on the rare occasions that I need Metro side. 

If I have to enable UAC for Start8 Menu accessibility in Windows 10 then I will not upgrade.  I guess in Windows 8 the Metro side is not all Apps and that is why I can access it with UAC disabled. 

Plus, Windowblinds can't make that Metro menu transparent (at least at this time) but maybe after release of Windows 10 so I would NEVER access it.  Thus, I needed Windows Updates back in the Control Panel.  Plus, I cannot tolerate a non transparent taskbar either and that horrible Metro menu turns off transparency there also. 

If Start8 and Windowblinds did not exist I would have downgraded Windows 8 Pro two years ago to Windows 7 Pro as I have never seen (since Windows 95) such a hideous OS as Windows 8 and now Windows 10 is even more hideous unless you have Windowblinds which is even more important than Start8.  I have 10 Preview looking absolutely beautiful with Windowblinds and my skin but only if I don't enable UAC and click on Start8 Menu which turns a beautiful GUI into something extremely hideous.