If you want to run Windows 8 from USB, there’s a built-in tool that lets you do it. With Windows 8 Portable Workspace Creator, you can install win8 on USB and run it simply by plugging in the USB to any system. This is especially helpful for people who are on the go and don’t want to carry laptops with them.
All you need is a 16 GB USB pen drive and a Windows 8 image. Be sure to backup any data that you may have on the USB drive as the device will be formtted during the process and all data will be wiped. To create a bootable Windows 8 USB, plug the USB with the computer, launch Windows 8 Portable Workspace Creator and follow the steps.
Want Metro UI on Windows 7 or Vista? With Newgen, you can get Windows 8 Start Screen for Windows 7 and Vista. Newgen features live widgets and supports WPF and HTML hence giving Windows 7 & Vista Metro look. All you need to do is to download and install the application on your system.
You can now download Windows 8 32 Bit and 64 Bit ISO file. Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 earlier today and it has now been made available for download. You can download and install it on any system that meets minimum Windows 8 system requirements. Here are download links:
Update: It appears that Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO torrent is now available as well. It may be useful for those who are either experiencing slow download speed hence looking for mirror links or for those who prefer to pause downloads for some reason. We recommend you download the ISO from official download links since Microsoft has offered it publicly for all, not just for developers.
Windows 8, demoed today, will soon be available for download. Here is a brief list of Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts that will help you get things done, quickly and easily, once you install it. You will notice that some shortcuts that worked in earlier versions of Windows work well in this version as well while some are new ones. Here is the list:
Microsoft demoed Windows 8 today at day 1 of BUILD conference that will be available for download to developers later today. So, what are minimum system requirements for Windows 8. That’s the big question as users would need to know the hardware specs to run Windows 8. Microsoft didn’t answer this question directly in today’s keynote. However Windows chief Steven Sinofsky did mention that even Lenovo S10 can run Windows 8. Lenovo S10 IdeaPad, a 10 inch Intel Atom powered laptop with 1 GB RAM. So, we can get an idea of system specs needed to run the upcoming Windows release.
Windows 8 System Requirements [Minimum Hardware Specs]
Since its minimum, you can obviously get more seamless and enjoyable Windows 8 experience on machines with better hardware specs. But if you have a cheap laptop lying around, you may want to update it to Windows 8 since it will then take fewer resources than Windows 7:
Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 at BUILD conference today. And you’d be able to download Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO from direct download links as soon as 6 PM PST today. Windows 8 is next generation OS from Microsoft that supports both, the traditional desktop environment as well as touchscreen environment.
Earlier today, Microsoft demoed Windows 8 Build 8102 at their developer conference. Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky, in his keynote address, highlighted the important features of Windows 8. As for availability, Windows 8 ISO download links will soon be available over at dev.windows.com.
We will update this post soon as Windows 8 becomes available, stay tuned.
Download Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO [Build 8120]
Links will be available at 6 PM PST.
Full build name as specified on demo was:
Windows 8 Build_8102_winmain_win8m3_110830_1739_f27a4ce73b5c5b80.
Microsoft demoed Windows 8 Build 8102 at BUILD conference today. Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky highlighted core features of Windows 8. The upcoming OS from Microsoft will work on Touchscreen devices as well as on traditional desktop PCs. It will support Keyboard / Mouse input in addition to Touch based input.
Here are some screenshots of Windows 8:
Windows 8 Lock Screen
Windows 8 Start Screen
Windows 8 File Explorer
IE 10 in Windows 8
Windows 8 Touch Keyboard
Windows 8 Thumb / Split Keyboard
Windows 8 Developer Preview will be released later today. Stay tuned for more.
In a recently released video highlighting the support to mount ISO files in Windows 8, Microsoft has revealed another new UI element: Windows 8 Start Menu. Inspired by Metro look, new Win8 Start Menu looks sleek and flat when compared to the one in Windows 7. There are only 4 start menu items that can be seen in the video:
Settings
Devices
Share
Search
Here is the screenshot:
Looks like Microsoft is finally getting rid of the cluttered start menu items. Glossy look of Windows 7 Start Menu also seems to have been replaced with a flat icon inspired by Metro UI. This start menu looks optimized for tablets and handheld devices. It’s not clear at the moment whether it will be default Start Menu and how much customization Microsoft will allow for it. This was first pulled by WinRumors in the video that demoes ISO and VHD support in Windows 8.
As per Microsoft, you’d be able to mount ISO in Windows 8 by using the native support for ISO and VHD files. This feature is added keeping in view 2 important file formats used for storing files, ISO and VHD. These file formats are used to distribute large files that can include any type of content from Music and Movies to Software and Data. Up till now, you needed a third party software to mount ISO files and access the data stored therein. With native support, you won’t need a third party software.
As its built right into the Windows 8, you will be able to mount ISO from within Windows 8 Explorer. There will be a separate tab that will allow you to mount the file and access data it contains. You can also burn the ISO onto a CD / DVD drive.
And this is how mounted ISO image will look like:
Handling of VHD files is very much the same. You would be able to see VHDs as virtual HDDs in Windows 8. This will allow you to access the files in VHD files.
And VHD file will look like this:
Although you can already manage these type of files by using third party tools, native support for mounting ISO files looks cool. It’s also much needed feature as the use of optical discs is on decline due to cheap large volume hard disk drives. Not to mention the importance of this feature for PCs / devices that don’t have an optical drive, tablets!
Here is a video highlighting these features:
Microsoft has detailed these features over at MSDN. We’ll keep you updated as new Windows 8 features continue to surface.
Microsoft is gearing up to unveil Windows 8 at BUILD conference this fall. Microsoft has detailed Windows 8 Ribbon Explorer UI that will replace the Windows Explorer. Ribbon UI has been part of Microsoft Office since the version 2007 and also features in Office 2010. Now the software giant is looking to bring it to Windows 8. The purpose is to simplify the file management process for users by giving them easy access to the most commonly used commands.
New Windows 8 Explorer UI will look very familiar to those who have used Microsoft Office 2010 / 2007. Commands are split into tabs that replace Menus in traditional Windows Explorer. First up is the Home tab, that lists usual file management commands like Copy, Paste, Delete, Rename etc.
Then there is Share Tab which, as obvious, allows you to share a file and manage its sharing and security settings.
View tab allows you to manage the view of Windows 8 Explorer with options like Group by, Sort by etc.. You can also turn the Preview Pane on and off from View tab.
Other than these standard tabs, there is File menu that allows users to open new Explorer windows and also lets you open Command Prompt from within the File menu.
All these features are detailed in the video below:
You can check full details of these features over at MSDN.
