Installing Windows 8 Preview in VMWare Player

Its always important to know what our Microsoft overlords have in store for us in the next OS.  With the Windows 8 release coming soon, I've been long overdue to get a local copy in order to "kick the tires".

The release preview was just made public, so I downloaded a copy of the ISO from the following location:

Windows 8 Release Preview ISO

Before you leave the download page, make sure to copy the product key.  Its buried in the text, right beneath the download links, and you'll need it for the install.

After downloading was complete, it was time to install the image.  Unfortunately, VMWare doesn't have Windows 8 in the OS picklist yet, so you need to jump through a few hoops in order to get it installed.  Luckily, this path was already paved by others, and thanks to the internet, there was already a well documented procedure at this site.

The major steps are:

• Create a new vm, choosing the options for "I will install the operating system later."
• Select Microsoft Windows as the guest operating system
• Choose either 32 or 64 bit Windows 7 depending on the Win8 ISO you downloaded
• Give the VM a name
• Choose "Customize Hardware"
• Modify CD/DVD IDE
• Select "Use ISO image for" and select your downloaded file
• Accept all your changes in the New VM wizard, and start the VM

The install went cleanly, and actually went a lot faster than I was expecting (it didnt cycle through half a dozen reboots like most Microsoft OS installs tend to do).  There was a section during setup that I wasn't expecting, where you basically can bind your login to a hotmail account.  Already having one of those, I filled out the form and went on my merry way.  The install finished without issues, and I then proceeded to shutdown the VM and changed the VMWare "CD/DVD IDE" setting back to the normal "Use Physical Drive / Autodetect" value.

After restarting the VM, I was a bit surprised that I needed to login to the OS with my hotmail account.  This was a departure from the last 20 years of Windows, and I haven't decided whether I'm ok with that change (when you change your email address, its just one more thing that will need to be done).

The first thing which you'll notice (how can you not) is the new desktop:

I'm not sure I want my desktop looking like a tablet.  Where I can see where it could be useful to the "just checking my email/web" crowd, as a power user, its going to take quite a few custom widgets (or whatever those new tile things are called) to get the desktop to a place where I think I could be happy with it.  Initial thoughts have me wondering how I'll work with all my common development tools, as well as what in the world am I going to do with all the shortcuts that I tend to keep on my desktop.

There is an initial tile (lower left) for launching a "legacy Windows desktop", but it has really been decimated; the most painful loss being the lack of a Start menu.  I'm really not sure what they are thinking here - go ahead and default to the new metro interface, but why in the world would you take away the security blanket of the good old start menu.  I guess it won't be long before the web is crawling with start menu replacement apps (maybe not a bad thing).  It seems odd that they would make such a radical change to the screen with the Metro UI, but then leave the desktop (but only in a neutered state).  It seems like they had the option to go all in and ditch the desktop completely, but backed-out of that thought process about halfway through development.  Another initial point of confusion was how to get back to the main screen (ie - once you dive into email, how do you get out), which trial-and-error gave the answer: pressing the "Windows" key.

My initial impression is mixed.  The Metro UI is attractive (the less is more theory of UI) and seems quite responsive (wondering how that will that scale to a large number of tiles), but I'm concerned that its going to be a major hassle changing my work habits to operate within the new model, and whether I'll lose any critical features in the process.

I'll keep experimenting as time allows...