Whenever a new OS is released, most of the people first test it using a virtualization software like VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, Virtual PC, etc. If they like it, they install it on their hard disk and start using it as primary OS.
The same thing we are doing with recently released Windows 8 Developer Preview build. We are testing it using Oracle VM VirtualBox and it works fine here.
Today Microsoft has posted a new topic at Building Windows 8 blog which describes why Windows 8 doesn't work in some famous virtualization software and which virtualization software you should use to test Windows 8 Developer Preview.
Here is what the post says:
Virtual machine products allow you to run a guest OS on top of an existing host OS that runs natively on the physical machine. As many of you know, virtualization is a popular way to try out new operating system products since you don’t have to dedicate a physical machine, add a spare disk, or repartition. To run the Windows 8 Developer Preview as a guest OS, you need a virtualization product that supports it.
Some virtualization products only provide a basic display driver that does not support the high performance graphics used in Windows 8. As a result, you get a noticeably slower, less responsive experience when compared with running the OS natively. The setup and configuration process can be complicated and error prone when running as a guest OS, especially if you are running it on older hardware that does not support built-in virtualization optimizations featured in the latest generations of Intel and AMD processors.
Windows 8 Developer Preview only came out a few days ago, so many of the virtualization products on the market have not yet been updated to work well with it. Microsoft is working closely with all of the major manufacturers of virtualization products to support Windows 8.
Following is a list of virtualization products which can be used to test Windows 8 Developer Preview without any problem:
- Hyper-V in Windows 8 Developer Preview
- Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2
- VMware Workstation 8.0 for Windows
- VirtualBox 4.1.2 for Windows
And following virtualization products are not working to test Windows 8 Developer Preview:
- Microsoft Virtual PC (all versions)
- Microsoft Virtual Server (all versions)
- Windows 7 XP Mode
- VMWare Workstation 7.x or older
In our opinion, VirtualBox is the best software at the moment to test Windows 8 Developer Preview and you can get it using following link:
Download VirtualBox to Test Windows 8
This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows 8.
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xoniv
What about VMware Player??
VG
^^ Doesnt work. Checked it first.
xoniv
so on vbox do we put the version as windows 7 or other??
xoniv
never mind...for those others who don't know its Windows 7.
Paultx
I have this 64-bit Windows 7 Professional system with two hard disks, one for the system and installed apps (500 GB) and one for storage of images, videos, etc. as well as for some portable apps (1 TB). If I use VirtualBox, will I be able to run Windows 8 from the second HD? FYI I've never done any virtualization move before, I intend to make my first try with Windows 8.
Jeel
Hi, Vishal
When I do this, It tells me that I can't run x64 on my system, when It is x64. What maybe the problem?
pgg
I'm getting 0x0000000A error. I searched a bit and found out that VT-x must be enabled. However I can not enable it, because I have no such a feature in BIOS. My question is - is there any workaround, so that I can run Win8 on any virtual machine?
M1cha
@Jeel: Your CPU needs Hardware-Virtualisation-support for running x64-guests
Lester
Hi Vishal! Can this VBox work on my Vista Ultimate x64? Cause I checked the End-User Docs and they said "A reasonably powerful x86 processor" . But that does mean I can run it on x64 Hosts? See, I was about to install Win8 in VMware Player when I read this article. Please Answer VG. I can't wait to try Windows 8!!
VG
I have used VirtualBox in Windows 7 64-bit so it should also work in Vista 64-bit.