At //build Microsoft showed the next version of Windows: Windows 8. Just after the public presentation, a developer preview is actually available for download.

So after downloading 4.8 GB you finally have a ISO image to install. Since I don’t have a spare laptop or desktop around I tried to give Windows 8 a “virutal” spin.

So I fired up my favorite VMWare Workstation, just to discover, that Windows 8 is not (yet) supported on VMWare Workstation (as of this writing I’m running version 7.1.4). As it seems VMWare Workstation 8 is supposed to support Windows 8 (actually the APIC version required by Windows 8). OK, so this doesn’t seem to work out well.

So I though – what the heck, why not give this VirtualBox a turn? A lot of people seem to work with VirtualBox, so it must be worth the effort of taking a closer look. OK, downloaded the bits and installed it on my Windows 7 host.

So let’s see how I can install Windows 8 on VirtualBox. Just create a new virtual machine, specifying it as Windows 7 64-bit and off you go. Just a short while later I’m greeted with the new Windows 8 metro design – this is smooth. Works just like a charm I must say. Should I re-consider my virtual hosting strategy?

Well, anyway. It’s about time to get a first impression of Windows 8 … so some further impressions will follow.