Finally the wait is over. The beta version of Windows 8, also known as the “consumer preview version” of Windows 8 is now available for download. The good news is that the system requirements for the installation is very much similar to that of Windows 7, this means that Windows 8 Consumer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7.
System Requirements:
- Processor: 1 GHz or faster
- RAM: 1 GB (32-bit) or 2GB (64-bit)
- Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device or higher
Windows 8 is also a touch-based operating system and primarily aims to power a new wave of tablets and PCs designed to counter Apple’s iPads and other tablets in the market. It is obvious that to use this feature, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
Windows 8 doesn’t have the traditional “Start” menu, and applications are spread across a mosaic of tiles in a design Microsoft calls “Metro”. The tiles, which resemble road signs, can be navigated with a finger swipe on the screen or with a keyboard and a mouse.
I know you are excited and want to know more about this OS. So before you begin with the installation, you can quickly know more about Windows 8 below:
Download Windows 8 beta:
To get Windows 8, you will first need to download Windows Setup which includes an optimized download and built-in tools for creating an ISO or bootable flash drive. Alternatively, you can also directly download an ISO image of windows 8 here.
Official Download Page: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download
Windows 8 Installation:
There are 2 ways, you can install windows 8 on your System:
- Installing as a Upgrade to your previous Windows version
- Installing as a fresh copy of windows alongside older version of Windows (Dual boot)
Though “Installing as a Upgrade” option is quite simple and straight forward, It is advisable that you Install it alongside your previous version of Windows. i.e install it on a different partition or Drive.
If you are a XP or Vista user and your planning to upgrade to Windows 8 on top of Windows XP or Vista then please note: only the user files will be preserved but not the software programs that you may have installed on the disk. So the obvious choice for XP or vista users is to install Windows 8 on a different partition (Dual boot).
Installation:
- Run the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup program.
- Setup will automatically check your PC to see if it is running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows and provides you with the correct download.
- With built-in download manager you start, stop, and resume the download at any time.
- Once Windows 8 is downloaded, you can now choose how and when to install it.
- You can install on the current drive or you can even make an ISO bootable DVD or bootable flash drive of Windows 8 for installing on another partition or another PC.
It is highly recommended that you choose to install it on another partition by using the built-in tools for converting an ISO image into installation media, such as a DVD or USB bootable flash drive.