It’s Official – http://dev.windows.com is the download link for Windows 8 Pre-beta for developers. Although originally I thought you might need an MSDN subscription, turns out that’s not the case. So if you’re not one of the attendees at the build conference who got the first Tablet for Windows 8 for free, just follow the groovyPost below for the details for installing Windows 8 on your own PC. Once you hit http://dev.windows.com, Click Get Started
Microsoft offers 3 separate versions of Windows 8 for download in .iso format. Download the version which suites your needs the best. Before you start the download however, here’s a few things to keep in mind.
System Requirements
Windows Developer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1 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 driverTaking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch
Windows 8 ISO Download Options
Windows Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit (x64)
64-bit Windows 8 Developer Preview Beta4.8 GB .isoWindows SDK for Metro style appsMicrosoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows Developer PreviewMicrosoft Expression Blend 5 Developer Preview28 Metro style apps including the BUILD Conference app
Windows Developer Preview English, 62-bit (x64)
64-bit Windows 8 Developer Preview Beta3.6 GB .isoIncludes a disk image file (.iso) to install the Windows Developer Preview and Metro style apps on a 64-bit PC.
Windows Developer Preview English, 32-bit (x86)
32-bit Windows 8 Developer Preview Beta2.8 GB .isoIncludes a disk image file (.iso) to install the Windows Developer Preview and Metro style apps on a 32-bit PC.
Upgrade Options or Clean Install?
Because you can’t uninstall the Windows 8 Dev Beta, I recommend installing on either a test box or a virtual machine. That being said, it is possible according to Microsoft to do an upgrade from XP, Vista and Windows 7 as long as you don’t use the Windows 8 Installer w/Dev Tools .iso. See the chart below:
Granted, I wouldn’t recommend an upgrade but that’s your call. Just keep in mind Microsoft is providing an .iso file which will need to be burned to a DVD in order to start the install unless you’re planning to install it in a Virtual Machine. That’s about it! I would love to hear about your experiences with Windows 8 so please feel free to drop a comment about how your install went and your first impressions of Windows 8! As for me… I’m still downloading it!
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