[vbox-dev] VirtualBox 4.1.x and Windows 8 status update

[Alexey Eromenko]

Hi All !

As you might know, Windows 8 developer preview is now officially
released, so anyone can freely download the build and try it out:
http://windows8beta.com/2011/09/download-now-windows-8-developer-preview
No registration required.

The good news: VBox 4.1 works on it as host. (you can start VMs)
And Win8 works as guest: installed successfully -- audio, network and
mouse (via VBox USB tablet) works fine.
The bad news: GuestAdditions fail to install (unable to detect OS version).
=======================
About Windows 8:

Desktop looks like Windows 7.
Other than that my personal feeling is a bit strange -- very difficult
for me to use the new "Metro" style Start Menu,
and so far I have found no way to revert to classic Windows Start Menu.

The good news about Win8 is that it has built-in virtualization:
(according to some articles, not tried yet)
1. loop-mount of ISOs and VHDs
2. Hyper-V and enlighted PV drivers
This means you can mount virtual HDD on host, even when VM is powered
off ! (it could be useful for VBox users)
NOTE: Vmware WS includes loop-mounter for VMDK for both Windows and
Linux hosts, while there are 3rd party tools to loop mount VDI on
Linux hosts only. There are no freeware nor OSS tools exist (that I
know of) to loop-mount vHDDs on Windows hosts.

link:
http://windows8beta.com/2011/09/windows-8-to-have-native-iso-and-vhd-support

ARM support: makes me wonder: why ?
It offers no advantages for desktops and one huge disadvantage: legacy
apps will stop working, so I will stick to x86 arch in the coming
decade. (on desktop)
Unlike Apple with their Rosetta emulator, Win8-ARM cannot emulate x86.
(x86 MAC OS X does emulate PowerPC for backward compatibility)

Best wishes,
-- 
-Alexey Eromenko "Technologov"