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...