How-To Download And Install Minecraft Snapshots
Hello everyone,
I thought I would put up a quick post on how to download & install the Minecraft Snapshots
Thanks M1neTube 
Jeb has also been asked how to install the snapshots, he provides some instructions here;
I recently received an angry email about these snapshots. The complaint was that we just upload these JAR files with absolutely no information on how they are supposed to be used. This is true, and is somewhat of a legacy from how the snapshotting was started: to give previews of possibly broken features. Expert users could satisfy their curiosity, and we received invaluable feedback on work in progress.
The snapshots have gained popularity over time, though, so this information needs to be restated. The snapshots can potentially destroy your save games, even though we try our best not to do that. Only use them if you know what you are doing. To “install” a snapshot, you download the JAR file and replace the one located in your “application data” folder. The easiest way to find that folder is to start the game, select “texture packs” and click on the “open texture pack folder” button. It will locate “.minecraft/texturepacks”, and the JAR file should be placed in “.minecraft/bin”.
To UNINSTALL the snapshot, start the launcher (Minecraft.exe on Windows) and click the “options” button. Then click on “force update” and login as usual. The launcher will then download the official JAR file for you. Note that save games created in the snapshot may not work (and probably doesn’t) in the official version of the game.
Download the pre-release here:
- Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/1_4_6/minecraft.jar
- Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/1_4_6/minecraft_server.jar (or EXE)
If you haven’t downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download
Good luck..
When ever i download the file it always comes out as a .zip format file? can you help me fix that
[...] More info here; http://gamereuphoria.com/2012/06/how-to-download-and-install-minecraft-snapshots-2012/ [...]