Dual boot XP and Kubuntu?

[dibl]

Ummm ....

CAUTION! That download link leads to a downloaded file named "Windows8-ConsumerPreview-setup.exe" which, as I understand the warning, is designed to be run on some prior version of Windows, and convert it permanently to Win 8. It says this:

Important: If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you'll need to reinstall it from the recovery or installation media that came with your PC, which is typically DVD media. If you don’t have recovery media, you might be able to create it from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer’s website for more information. After you install Windows 8, you won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows.

So, plan your strategy before you launch that thing -- use your spare Windows, not one that you actually need to use in the future. I guess they're not going to let us have an ISO, like they did for Win 7.

[SteveRiley]

Wow. I hadn't looked at the FAQ -- thanks for spotting that.

A downloadable ISO is available, but it operates in the same way: installs over an existing Windows Vista or 7, with no way to go back.

So, boys and girls, if you want to play, do it in a Windows 7 VM that you can convert to 8 and then just delete when you're finished.

[dibl]

Cool -- thanks Steve.

FYI, the .exe version has bombed here -- "blah blah blah is not a valid Win32 application" error, on a Win 7 VM.

I'm going to try the ISO.

[dibl]

The problem with the .exe installer was a PEBKAC situation -- it worked correctly when the user pulled his head out of ....

However, I hit the wall when it informed me that it requires 16GB of free space on the C: drive, which in my case is a 40GB virtual disk that has 28GB of Win 7 on it. So .... hmmm. I don't know whether I can rip out enough stuff to get down to 24GB or not.

Also, somehow the Win 8 installer triggered a WGA event which informed me that different hardware was detected and I have 3 days to re-register Win 7 -- a reminder of why I made the change in 2006, and how pleasant and trouble-free life has been since I took the decision to make Gnu/Linux my OS of choice.

[SteveRiley]

Well, to get around the virtual disk size, you could always exand it, presuming you have enough physical space to accomodate that.

And I don't know of a single rational person on the planet who likes WGA.

[dibl]

In my usual learning style, I first learned two wrong ways to install this Win 8 evaluation copy, but on the third try I got it. For installation on a working Win 7 VM, you need to keep VMware Tools, and you need to choose the "Keep my settings and apps" route for installation. But I had to uninstall all other software, and delete everything in My Docs and Pix and Music and so forth -- basically stripped out everything from Win 7 except VMware Tools, in order to free up more than 16GB of space on my 40GB virtual disk. But it's working now, on a Dell Latitude E6500 -- I must say it doesn't look bad, although the navigation is rather non-obvious, IMO.

Thanks Steve!