Try Windows 8 Developer Preview
on VirtualBox !
Today, I tried windows 8 on Oracle Virtual box which windows 8
themes and feature more like seemlier to windows 7 with Chrome features. Microsoft is planning to move more touch pad
base interface with keeping tradition look. Windows 8 requires to upgrade / new
install which overwrite my Win 7, instead of that I chose virtual box option as
I do not want to reinstall win7 again & reconfigure my setting back.
Windows 8 offers both a Desktop
mode and Metro mode, I am not discussing features..you can find feature from
Microsoft and other blogs … I am trying to help setup your own personal machine
and evaluate features yourself.
Windows 8 works great on the same
hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7:
1 gigahertz or faster 32-bit or
processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB
RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space
(32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver,
For more feature you can go developer Preview guide
My machine runs Win7 home premium with i7 and 8 Gb memory.
To install on Virtual box, you need to download following tools…
1)
Windows 8 developer preview (ISO)
2)
Virtual
Box
Install Virtual box and follow below
steps,
1)
Open virtual box and create new VM instance by
clicking new
2 ) Select Windows 7 (64bit, if you
download 64 bit iso) and define Instance
name
2)
Allocate Memory minimum 2 gb for better
performance, min 1 Gb
3)
Select boot hard drive and create
4)
Select VDI
5)
Select Dynamice allocated
6)
Allocated around 30 gb
storage as 16 Gb requirement
7)
Select instance setting and select storage,
add IDE controller as Win8 iso file to boot and install
8)
Configure wireless adapter as below
Start instance, Allow to book from ISO
(DVD)
Restart VM instance and allow to book from CD or DVD..
Select basic setting and go next….
Select express setting …
You can create local user or user
windows live account for authentication…
Wallahhh … here’s ur windows 8 home
screen… you can select different application from metro interface.
New control panel look,
Lock screen…
Control panel personalization….
New search…
Legacy windows 7 control panel
User setting..
Metro screen IE
Desktop IE 9
Screen keyboard..
Visual studio 11 for developers…. To
build different apps using Javascript, C#, VB and C++
Validating different style apps….
Using windows app certification kit
Different ways of screen navigation
like drag screen and using tabs..
New and imporve Task
manager with more user friendly ..
As it’s developer version not.. final
version.. it breaks many places and many app features are not available yet.
So, quite obviously, the Metro
interface is almost specifically designed to be used with touch screens. But
since it is meant to also be a full blown desktop OS, it should also be
keyboard and mouse friendly. Unfortunately, I often find that the mouse isn't
two suited to Metro. It feels very out of place with all the random gestures
and flicking, scrolling etc. Maybe there should be a few more options about how
the OS handles the mouse, making it more mouse friendly when someone prefers to
use that rather than an awkwardly placed touchscreen. I mean, let's face it,
How many people actually have touch screen computers?
I feel that the new Metro interface
is nice to look at but productivity is where it falls short. Everything you are
used to doing takes an extra click. It feels more suited to tablets and phones
rather than proper computers. I think there are quite a few improvements
which can be made to improve the OS and it isn't a total lost cause. There are
still plenty of aspects which I like about it but obviously those don't really
fit with the title.
May help you to evaluate Win8.. will update as I discover new features.... & will build new app...