Now that the Windows 8 Developer Preview has been released to the public, the easiest way to test this new OS is to install it in a virtual environment. Installing Windows 8 as your main OS or dual booting will allow you to fully take advantage of your hardware, but if you are looking to install Windows 8 without any major change to your system then VirtualBox is the way to go. First of all, download Windows 8 Developer Preview from this link (32-bit or 64 bit depending on your system - the former if you're not sure): [URL]http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516[/URL] While your ISO download is in progress, you can get VirtualBox installed. Use the link for the latest "windows hosts" version and install it to your system: [URL]http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads[/URL] Once this is installed and the ISO downloaded, start VirtualBox and click "[B]new[/B]": [CENTER][ATTACH=full]3[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Then, click next to proceed: [CENTER][ATTACH=full]4[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Now type in the Image name ("Windows 8" for example) and then choose "[B]Windows[/B] " and "[B]Windows 7[/B]" (x64 if you are using the 64-bit version) from the OS version dropdown. After this, click "[B]next[/B]": [CENTER][ATTACH=full]5[/ATTACH][/CENTER] You can now choose how much RAM to allocate to the virtual Windows 8 installation. You need to allocate [B]1024MB RAM (32-bit)[/B] or [B]2048 GB RAM (64-bit)[/B] at minimum, but can select more if you wish. Once you've chosen, click "[B]next"[/B]: [CENTER][ATTACH=full]6[/ATTACH][/CENTER] The next step is to set up the virtual hard disk. [B]16GB (32-bit)[/B] or [B]20GB (64-bit)[/B] is the minimum amount, but higher is recommended if you are installing other applications. You can set this up to your own preferences, but we chose to create a 40GB dynamically expanding VHD using the following steps: [CENTER][ATTACH=full]7[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [CENTER][ATTACH=full]8[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [CENTER][ATTACH=full]9[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [CENTER][ATTACH=full]10[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [CENTER][ATTACH=full]11[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [CENTER][ATTACH=full]12[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Once you have followed through the above steps to create your virtual hard drive, you'll return to the main VirtualBox screen. Please select the Windows 8 VM and click "[B]start[/B]": [CENTER][ATTACH=full]13[/ATTACH][/CENTER] You'll now be presented with a "First Run Wizard" which leads you through the steps to booting from the ISO. First, click "[B]next[/B]" to proceed: [CENTER][ATTACH=full]14[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Now click the folder icon to browse for your downloaded Windows 8 ISO. Click "[B]next[/B]" once you've done this. [CENTER][ATTACH=full]15[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Finally your are presented with a confirmation screen with an overview of your first boot options. Click "[B]start[/B]" to begin the boot process: [CENTER][ATTACH=full]16[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Congratulations... in just a few moments the Windows 8 installation ISO will boot and you will be able to install Windows 8! You can read [URL='https://www.win8forums.com/threads/how-to-install-windows-8.85/']this installation guide[/URL] to guide you through the Windows 8 installation process. [CENTER][ATTACH=full]17[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [B]Note:[/B] I'd strongly suggest tweaking the standard configuration if your PC is relatively modern. Under settings, you can choose to enable 2D and 3D acceleration and check that hardware virtualization is enabled - this should speed up running Windows 8 in VirtualBox.
