Anyone tested it yet? Anyone feeling adventurous? I should find a spare machine to play with... Windows 8 Release Preview
I'm not sure if you can use virtualbox, because it has to upgrade from Windows 7 I think. So you would have to install a Windows 7 on the virtualbox first.
you can do a direct install. vbox has support for win8 since Feb 12. Speaking of that, was installing a new system x today. the IBM server guide now supports windows server 2012
Wow...that's quick... This Windows 8 Release Preview is not an iso image, so I don't know if you can do that.
You can download it as an ISO image. Windows 8 Release Preview ISO formats I did that already. Haven't installed it yet on as a VM on Parallels on my Mac. Played around with the previous preview.
works best with a convertible notebook/tablet with a touchscreen. In the previous consumer preview, the navigation with a mouse is darn ackward. especially trying to switch back and forth between the desktop mode and the metro UI. Also, there's absolutely no visual cues on how to navigate around the Metro fullscreen apps, not natural at all. But Metro UI does look pretty.
haha i think it's gonna be windows xp - vista transition all over again. the foundation of win7 is so good and modern, there is simply no reason to upgrade. win server on the other hand.. an improved hyper-v, and a new resilient FS can't wait for it!
Posting this from Windows 8 now. The Release Preview is a lot faster in performance compared to all the previous preview releases. But there seriously is still a lot of 'weirdness' in the OS like now in the fullscreen Metro-based IE. The scrollbar that hovers over the page does not disappear immediately when I mouse over the extreme right of the screen, therefore not allowing me to click on anything over there. And for new users, you'd be stumped as to know how to access the menus, settings, how to switch apps, go back to Start Menu (Metro), etc.... no visual cues. You really do need to RTFM to operate this OS. Otherwise, it's quite pretty (or I should say refreshing) to look at.
I think it's going to be far worse if they are deploying Windows 8 as it is... Imagine the IT support pain...Most of the corporate world has yet to migrate to Windows 7!
Yup. Windows 8 doesn't look like it was built for enterprises. Even my company is just starting to transition to Windows 7, but they are also reworking most of the systems to be platform independent, more web-based access. No more dependencies on a Windows machine. If M$ wants to be successful with Windows 8, they have to first price it right (low entry point) and then make their money off the App Store.
That is only for the consumer. For corporate, I'm not sure how are they going to convince them with their direction of Windows 8, and they are getting rid of the start menu since Windows 3.0 (or earlier?). In fact, they shouldn't call it Windows anymore. Tiles 1.0? They have a great chance to succeed with Windows 8 by consolidating the tablet and desktop, but I'm waiting...
Yea. Windows 8 is quite fun to use. They just need to refine the UI. It's not very intuitive to use on a desktop. On a tablet perhaps with the help of gestures.
I think they have it all covered. 8 for consumer, 7 for biz, and R2 / server 8 for the enterprise. and a solid platform independent environment (ok still windows. haha) for developers to build (.net, which i always view it as a virtual machine). If 8 didn't turn out to be popular, there is always Win 7 for businesses to fall back on. and you can't really complain about Win 7 because it's the most solid product to come from MS in many many years. it's good to be the underdog. Less pressure to deliver, and the final products are usually very good. they are behind apple and vmware, and you can tell that this is a different MS. windows 8 doesn't need to be a hit in the business segment because MS volume licensing doesn't give a shit about which edition of windows you purchase. they just need the market to purchase windows. it doesn't matter which version. If you need XP, you have to buy Win 7. likewise, if you want win7 in 2014 you will have to buy win8. Once the license is assigned to your account, you have access to Win 7, vista or XP via their volume licensing portal. The options are there and you can deploy as and when you wish. if you pay for software assurance, they will give you the next version (win 9 or win cloud..whatever) for free! OEM licensing works this way too. But then again, in the biz segment, the real cash cow is their CAL licensing. Windows revenue is already taken care of by MS OEM partners. 1000 employees, 1000 standard server CALs. 40 dollar each, and that's already 40k to make. Slot in an exchange, that's another 60k (exchange cal) goes in to their pocket. How about hosted security? Email journaling for legal/compliance? No problem, just get the enterprise CAL. even more $$$ to make. See, they make 100k+ without even selling a line of code. If you runs a sql powered ERP, then you will need sql CALs. hahahaha... PC can die, MS will not. Then again, PC will never die. if you switch everyone from a PC to a tablet, the economy will collapse. because nothing will get produced on time. hahaha.. tablet will just be another device that we will use day in day out.. you know.. the technological convergence that the jap tech companies have been talking for ages. Ubiquitous computing, that's how NEC likes to call it.. haha
If they are still maintaining Windows 7 for corporate, that makes more sense, but I doubt I will upgrade to Windows 8 if that is the case. Win7 will not phase out in 2014. In fact, Windows XP will only phase out in 2014!