Install Windows 8 As a Virtual Machine with VirtualBox

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Windows 8 Developer Preview requires a clean install. If you don’t want to wipe your computer or install Windows 8 on a separate partition or drive, you should consider installing Windows 8 as a Virtual Machine (VM.)

To run Windows 8 Developer Preview as a virtual machine, I recommend using VirtualBox as your host.

So How to ?
Install Virtual Box & Set up Windows 8 VM
Install Windows 8 in Virtual Box
Requirements
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO file (32-bit or 64-bit)
Windows Live ID (for best testing experience, sign up here if you don’t have one)
Internet Connection (for best testing experience)

Besides that, also make sure that your computer has the Virtualization Technology (VT-x/AMD-V) activated in the BIOS. Proceed to the installation if you are ready with everything.
Install VirtualBox & Set up Windows 8 VM

Step 1:
 Download VirtualBox and install it.

Open VirtualBox and click New.

Go through the wizard to create a new Virtual Machine. Below screenshot shows the parameter used for the virtual machine. Do note that the minimum requirement of RAM for  Windows 8 is 1GB for 32-bit and 2GB for 64-bit.








Now Virtual Machine is ready.
Step 2:

Once the virtual machine is ready, click Settings and start modifying the settings in order to install Windows 8 Developer Preview. All the screenshot below shows the settings that I used during the setup.

System

Storage

This part might be tricky. By default, the VDI file generated will be mounted as a SATA HDD. However, if it is treated as a SATA HDD, Windows 8 will not be able to initiate the installation and BSOD (A very cute one) occurs. So the workaround is to mount the VDI file under the IDE controller, this way Windows 8 Developer Preview install perfectly.

Also under Storage, mount the ISO file containing Windows 8 Developer Preview that you just downloaded.

Once everything is set, start installing Windows 8! The installation process is pretty much similar to the one in Windows 7, so nothing much to cover there. When Windows 8 started up, you will need to enter your Windows Live ID and password.

It is worth noting that the guest addition for VirtualBox doesn’t work in Windows 8, therefore the resolution of the virtual machine is limited.

Other famous Virtual Machine software such as VMWare and Windows Virtual PC are not able to install Windows 8 Developer Preview at the moment. So if you are really interested to try it out, follow our guide to install it, and let us know your opinion on Windows 8.

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Windows 8 Features

We don’t know much about Windows 8 features yet, but we know what Microsoft is working on.

However, I have researched all features that Microsoft is currently working on. Of course we don’t know if Microsoft will indeed add those features to the final build of Windows 8 in 2011/2012.

Windows 8 Features: Highest Chance For Implementation



New Filesystem
App Store / Windows 8 Apps
Kinect Rapid Login-In
Will Run on ARM (CONFIRMED)
Cloud support
3D Desktop
Reset To Factory Default


Windows 8 Features: High Chance For Implementation

Windows 8 Features with a good chance for integration / or already confirmed features:

History Vault
DSFR (New Storage technology:Distributed File System Replication storage file system) = Faster File Access
Support for one way replication
Cluster Support
Dramatic performance improvements
Hibernate/Resume Integration API, which will be used in Windows 8 replacing Windows Vista’s Xpress compression engine.
PatchGuard Improvement = More Secure x64 Environment
New user interface framework = More beautiful Windows 8 Interface
Improved Download Experience
Improved Remote Desktop Client and Protocol
More Windows 8 features haven’t been revealed yet. Overall, I would say that Microsoft is working on some big things. A new file system, enhanced security and a new GUI sound really good so far, what else should they be working on?

Although there are many features that are really useful, there are also features that are totally useless. I hope they focus on the important features and not on the Hibernation and Download features :P

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