There are two ways you can install this beast:
1. You can install it like normal on a hard drive partition.
2. You can install it on your present system as a 'virtual hard drive', which means it's all software-driven, so there's no fussing with drives and partitions.
There are good and bad sides to both:
— If you're going to install it like normal, you'll need a blank partition with at least 20 gigs free, and if you only have one hard drive (which means you'll be overwriting your present C Drive), you'll have to know how to reinstall your original system when you're through with the evaluation. If you're using a second drive, you'll need to know how to go into the BIOS to have the system boot from that drive instead of your regular drive. Both are explained below.
— If you're going to use the 'virtual' method, be forewarned that it'll operate very sluggishly because it's reading everything from one gigantic data file. It also can't use all of your system memory because you have to leave a big chunk of it so your normal system still works. The plus side is that it's fairly quick to install and uninstall.
In short, if all you want to do is take it out for a quick spin, use the 'virtual' method. If you're planning on installing programs and putting it through its paces, install it the normal way.
The Download
First, download the proper evaluation file. Skip the first one, with the developers' tools. As far as the 32-bit and 64-bit packages go:
— If you're going to use the 'virtual' method, pick the bit type that matches your Windows. If you're unsure, right-click on 'Computer' and open Properties. You'll see it on the 'System type' line.
— If you're going to install it on a blank partition, I'd suggest the 32-bit version. I had some networking issues with the 64-bit version. If you're planning on installing some 64-bit-only programs, grab the big guy.
Download the proper file. They're fairly hefty so it might take a while.
Standard Hard Drive Install
There are two installation modes, 'Update' and 'Clean' (a fresh install). Unfortunately, 'Update' does to a Win7 system what Win7 and Vista did to a WinXP system — obliterates it. It copies everything in the 'Program Files' folder to a 'Windows.old' folder, and almost nothing works because their settings aren't in the Registry. So the whole thing is kind of pointless.
If you want to try the 'Update' routine, you'll need 16 gigs free on the C Drive. You update it by burning the downloaded ISO file to a DVD disc, then booting up the main system and running the disc.
If you're going to do a clean install on your C Drive, you'll need some kind of backup program to first make an image file of your system so you can restore it when you're through with the evaluation.
I usually use a program called True Image for my backups. Instead of a commercial program, you can use the 'Backup and Restore' function on the Control Panel. Open the program and click on 'Create a system image'. It's going to make a fairly large file (21 gigs in my case), so select a partition with lots of room. On the next panel, the C Drive should be automatically checked. It'll make a folder called 'WindowsImageBackup' on the root of the hard drive. Don't change the name or move the folder.
You then need to click on 'Create a system repair disc' to make a boot-up CD or DVD for the restoration process. You boot up from the disc, tell it you want to use your own backup file, then select the drive the file is on. It'll find it for you. Select the file and it'll restore the original system.
If you're doing a fresh install on a second drive, it should have a blank partition with at least 20 gigs free. If you're planning on installing programs, give it 30 gigs.
When you get to the first green setup screen during the install, enter the name of the computer, like 'Win8'. On the next screen, select 'Customize'. On the first 'Settings' screen, click 'Next'. On the second one, slide all four gadgets to the left to disable them. On the third screen, hit 'Next'. Put in your user name and that's it.
If a box pops open saying your Windows needs to be 'authenticated', it should self-authenticate after you get online. You might also see the warning at the top of the Control Panel.
You'll need to go into the BIOS to change the drive order so the system will boot from that drive, rather than your regular drive. The BIOS is accessed immediately after the computer starts. It usually says on the screen what key accesses it, usually the F1, F2 or Delete key. You'll then use the arrow keys to navigate to the 'Startup' panel, then there should be some kind of 'Primary Drive Sequence' section you enter with the Enter key, then something like 'Hard Disk Drives' which displays the order of drives the computer boots from. Using the arrow keys (or possibly the Page Up and Page Down keys) and the Enter key, get your second drive at the top of the list.
When you're finished with the evaluation, change the BIOS back and just reformat the partition to erase the whole mess.
For tips on running Win8, see below.
Running Win8 From A Virtual Drive
This is pretty slick in the sense that you don't have to fiddle with drives and partitions, but the hitch is that parts of it run real sluggishly. You'll need at least 20 gigs of hard drive space free on one of your drives. It only does a clean install, so if you're planning on installing test programs, give it 30 gigs when it comes up in the install process. The default is 20.
You first need to install the VirtualBox program. Click 'Downloads' on the left, then the first file of the four listed. It's a standard Next-Next-Next install. You'll be hit with four small 'Install' boxes along the way.
To install the downloaded Win8 file, click 'New' in the VirtualBox program.
Put in a name for the virtual drive, like 'Win8', then down below select 'Windows 7' if you're running a 32-bit Windows, 'Windows 7 (64-bit)' if a 64-bit system.
On the 'Memory' panel, if you have 4 gigs of mem, split it with the Win8 file. Your own system will still probably run fine. If you have 2 gigs, split it with the Win8 file but don't plan on using your own system while Win8 is running or you may run out of memory. If you're unsure how much memory you have, right-click on 'Computer' and open its Properties.
Next-Next-Next to the 'Virtual disk file location and size' panel. Click on the small folder icon and navigate to a drive with at least 20 gigs free on it. You can make a folder to hold the image file if you want. The actual name of the image file is embedded in the requester so don't touch it.
Finish up the routine and you're back on VirtualBox. Highlight the new Win8 entry and click 'Start'. This is akin to booting up from the install disc.
Note: You might get all kinds of error boxes popping up along the way. Be sure to get rid of these ASAP or they might hang up the install. The next time you see them, just checkmark the 'Don't show again' boxes.
When you get to the 'Select Installation Media' panel, click on the small folder icon and navigate to the downloaded Win8 file.
It'll then run the normal Windows install routine. This won't do an 'Upgrade' install, so select 'Custom' when you get to that panel.
It'll take a while to expand and install the Windows files. It'll even reboot a few times, and, just like a regular Windows install, don't hit the dreaded Any Key when it's rebooting or it'll start the install routine all over again.
Historical Note: Back when Win95 came out, almost every device (printer, scanner, ROM drive, etc) had an accompanying floppy disk with a driver file. When you ran the disk, it usually said something like "To Continue, Press Any Key". The #1 question for tech support at the time from confused customers? "Where's the 'Any' key?"
Warning: Don't click outside of the Win8 box during this next part or you might lose control of the mouse pointer.
When it gets to the green 'Personalize' screen, just start typing to enter a name and activate the 'Next' box.
On the next screen, select 'Customize'.
On the next screen, 'Don't share'.
On the first 'Settings' screen, select 'Next'. On the second one, slide the four boxes to the left to turn them off. 'Next' on the third screen.
On the first 'Log on' screen, select 'Don't want...'. On the second one, select 'Local account'.
On the next screen, type in your user name. It'll then spin for a while and eventually the Tablet-top (as referred to the Desktop?) should appear. If the install seems to hang up (the little circle animation stops), click the window's 'close' gadget on the upper-right, select 'Power off the machine', then restart the Win8 project from VirtualBox.
Once it's installed, it'll go directly to the Tablet-top when you first start it up in VirtualBox.
Tip: Hit Right-Ctrl-F for full-screen mode, again to go back to window mode. It'll remember which mode you left it in when it boots up next time. You'll normally want to run it in full-screen mode so you can access buttons down at the bottom of the screen.
As I mentioned, some aspects of the virtual version are real slow, particularly starting up the Tablet-top items. It might take upward of a minute for Internet Explorer to load, depending upon a handful of factors. The hard drive light on your tower should be blinking like crazy as things load up. If it's not, the program has probably hung. In non-full screen mode, there's an icon down in the SysTray that blinks with hard drive activity. If it's blinking, that means it's still loading up.
After you're through with the evaluation, right-click on the Win8 entry in VirtualBox, select 'Remove', then 'Delete all files' and it's history. Then use Control Panel, 'Programs and Features', to remove the VirtualBox program.
Using Windows 8
Hit the Windows key (next to the Alt key) to return to Tablet Mode from a specific function. The Esc key also works in some cases.
There's one big, big problem, and unless they take care of this nasty little oversight, this isn't going to wash with the masses for Desktop use.
There's no Start Menu.
This means you either have to find every program with Windows Explorer and make a shortcut icon for the Desktop, or open 'Computer' and do a search for the program. It's kind of bizarre, to say the least.
As a quick example, I wanted to make a simple screen-grab at one point. It was a test system, so I was just going to dump the screen shot into lowly Paint and save it.
And all I had to do was:
1. Laboriously hit the Print/Scrn key
2. Agonizingly open the 'Computer' folder
3. Painstakingly click on 'Computer' on the left
4. Strainstakingly click on 'C Drive'
5. Toilsomely click on the 'Windows' folder
6. Wearisomely type in the 'p'
7. Then the 'a'
8. Then the 'i'
9. Then the 'n'
10. Then the 't'
11. Brain-numbingly hit the Enter key
12. Endlessingly wait for the search to finish
13. Fatiguingly drag down the scroll bar
14. Find the Paint icon, double-click on it, paste in the screen-grab, then save it for future use.
Piece o' cake.
The good news is that you can install Classic Start Menu, the replacement Start Menu for Win7, and that works. Kind of.
Normally, clicking on the Windows symbol on the very upper-left of the Desktop brings you back to the Tablet-top, like hitting the Windows key does. The problem is that once you run Classic Start Menu, the symbol now becomes a (real) Start Menu, plus the Windows key doesn't work anymore, so you can't get back to the Tablet-top. You have to shut down Classic Start Menu to get back.
That means that you'd have to re-start Classic Start Menu every time you returned to the Desktop. But at least it works. Kind of.
After the Tablet-top first appears, you might need to adjust the screen's resolution. Click (or tap, if you must) on the Desktop area, then the right mouse button, 'Screen resolution', select your normal screen resolution. If you're (actually) using a tablet (and don't have a right mouse button), go to the Control Panel on the Tablet-top, 'More settings', 'Display', 'Adjust resolution'.
When it comes to accessing the Internet, you might run into a few quirks. My Verizon Wireless, for example, takes (cough!) over two minutes to 'authenticate'. Normally, it takes about 10 seconds.
Also, some of the functions (like 'Weather') don't have a 'Refresh' option, so if you're not connected and you get a 'can't find Internet' message, they still won't connect even after you get online. So if you have a system (like wireless) where you have to run a program to get online, run it first.
I never did get the 'Stocks' function to connect on the hard drive installations (I tried a clean 32-bit, 64-bit, and a 32-bit Upgrade). A box displayed noting it couldn't get online, even though the Weather, News, etc, worked fine. I gather this is because it's looking for an Internet connection (like cable) as it's booting up. Works fine on the virtual drive system because the Internet is already connected when it's booted up.
To access the regular Control Panel, click (or tap, if you insist) the 'Control Panel' button on the Tablet-top, then 'More Settings' down at the bottom.
To access the Task Manager from the Desktop, right-click on the Task Bar and open it. It defaults to a 'simple' view, which I suppose is good for the newbies. To access a program that somewhat resembles the old Task Manager, click on 'More details'. Apart from the lack of a Start Menu, this was the only dif I could find between this system and a regular Win7 system.
In order to save any Windows settings (icon placement, window size, etc), you need to shut down Windows correctly:
— If you're using VirtualBox and it's in full-screen mode, use Right-Ctrl-F to put it into (non-full-screen) window mode so you can access the window's 'close' gadget on the upper-right, then click it to close the system. In the box that pops up, it should be 'Send the shut-down signal'. If it ever fails to shut down, bail out and use the third option. In that case, any system settings won't be saved, so the next time you boot up and think, "Hey, I thought I already changed that," it's because the system got hung up (not uncommon with the virtual version) and you used the bail-out option to shut down.
— If it's a regular system, shutting down the computer is quite easy compared to the bad old days when it took an entire mouse click.
To shut down the new, improved, sleeker, meaner, stronger, faster Windows 8, merely:
1. Trepidatiously click on the 'user' icon on the top right
2. Hesitationally select 'Log off'
3. Gaze in horror at the beautiful mountain scenery pic as you wonder why in the hell it's bouncing up and down every time you click the mouse, finally double-clicking on it out of sheer desperation only to be whisked away to yet another plain, drab, boring green screen, thereby compounding the horror tenfold
5. Gratefully click on the icon on the lower-right
6. Ecstatically select 'Shut down'
7. Lean back and marvel in awe at your accomplishment
Do it fifty or sixty times and it'll become second nature.
On a normal install, if one of the 'quickie' functions hangs up (I had problems with 'News' just going to a 'Loading...' screen on the 64-bit system), it's possible/probable the 'Logging off' screen will also hang up. It should only take about 10 seconds to get through. If it hangs up, just power down the computer manually.
As far as the News Feeds go, uh, you're not one of those picky 'Conservatives', are you? If so, well, let's hope you don't mind getting your news from four of the most liberal news sources in the galaxy, MSNBC, NPR, PBS and CBS. There are lots of 'feeds' to choose from, but those are the only four listed under 'News'. Hopefully, there'll be a way to add new feeds in the final product.
As for performance, while they're claiming Win8 "runs faster" than Win7, my time tests said they were exactly the same. It boots up a lot faster, though, which is one of the things they're promoting for tablet use.
Bug Report
Apart from the Stocks feature not connecting on my hard drive tests, and the lack of a Start Menu on the Desktop, the only other flaw I saw is that it appears to continue running (in the background) whatever Tablet-top item you start. There are a bunch of goodies over to the right, like games, a playable piano, memo pad, etc, and once you run them, they still appear to be running according to the Alt-Tab key combo, burning up system resources like memory.
Also, if one of them is making an audio sound, the sound continues to play ever after you go back to the Tablet-top screen. There might be a way to shut these things down, but I never figured it out. I imagine the beta-testers will bitch about it and they'll put an official 'Close' gadget on each program. They'll also have to do something about the lack of a Start Menu.
Summation
For Desktop use, I can't see any reason to upgrade from Win7, since it's still Win7. If you have an older OS, then it's simply a matter of whether or not you'll use the tablet part. If not, then just upgrade to regular Win7.
If you're planning on installing it on both a tablet and desktop computer, then it's simply a matter of clicking the Desktop icon when it first boots up on the desktop computer. Since Classic Start Menu will (in theory) be running, you won't be able to get back to the tablet-top anyway, so it'll just act like a normal desktop computer at that point.
My only real beef is that they should have named it 'Windows Tablet'. Calling it 'Windows 8' gives the impression that it's an actual upgrade of the operating system, but such is hardly the case. They basically just added a GUI and a few 'feeds'.
Any questions, ask away.
