Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available:

• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

A common error when installing Windows 8 in a virtualized environment is “HAL INITIALIZATION FAILED”. Note virtualization compatibility:

• 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

Non-functional:

• Microsoft Virtual PC (all versions)
• Microsoft Virtual Server (all versions)
• Windows 7 XP Mode
• VMWare Workstation 7.x or older

see also,

• MSDB Blog, Running Windows 8 Developer Preview in a virtual environment
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/16/running-windows-8-developer-preview-in-a-virtual-environment.aspx