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Thanks for any assistance with this - I'm a pretty solid hardware and OS X / AIX person, but totally out of the loop on Windows and wanted an answer what I needed as a bare minimum to try Windows 8. I searched the site and didn't see any question so asked one. It got shot down as not constructive.

What software will run the new Windows 8 in virtualization under OS X?

Are the SU community really prone to making a poo fight over a question like this? I was looking for specific experience from someone who had done a very specific task before I set out to try Windows 8 on the hardware I own.

Can anything be done to make this more palatable to the users here?

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    The question is: all major virtualization providers have Windows 8 support. What else is there to say? What have you tried?
    – slhck Mod
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 15:49
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    We typically like to solve problems around here. If you try to run Win 8 in a VM and run in to some issues, we'd be all over that.
    – rtf
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:03
  • @r.tanner.f I'm pretty familiar with how Stack Exchange sites work - and appreciate your helping me understand the mindset here. I was actually going to write an answer to this explaining how to solve the problem of not knowing what configuration and tools to choose (or edit the best answer into shape). Is the fact that many's skill level is higher than mine the part that makes this "not constructive"?
    – bmike
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:11
  • @bmike Due to the Win 8 challenge we're so swamped with people right now who apparently have zero skills that I'm confident that your skill level had nothing to do with your question being closed and entirely to due with how open ended the question is, in combination with how quickly the answer could change. If a hypervisor has trouble with Win 8 now, it will be patched soon, leaving any answer about which tools and settings to use outdated. This would be fine if you focused on a single hypervisor, but you're multiplying this problem by three when you don't choose one to roll with.
    – rtf
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:28

1 Answer 1

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Given the concept of virtualization, there is really little to go wrong when when attempting to install Windows 8 in a virtual environment.

  • You won't pay for Windows 8 itself, you can just install a trial.
  • Your computer won't be affected as you're installing a virtual machine

This looks like there is really nothing that could go wrong when attempting an installation.

I would assume this is also the reason why people voted to close your question. Even though the procedure appears to involve little to no risk, you seem to not have tried the installation.

The assumed obvious answer is: No, nothing can or will go wrong.

That's why it was closed as being not constructive. Unless you find a specific issue when installing Windows 8 in a virtualized environment, the question is too generic.

p.s.: We're definitely not against Mac questions ;)

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  • It's not obvious to me with 10 years of virtualization experience that nothing could go wrong and you are correct I hadn't tried the install when I asked for help. The specific issue is some people don't know to choose 32 bit or 64 bit or VMWare or Parallels or Virtual Box let alone that choosing the defaults will or will not work on an OS that's been out for 4 days. I can assure you, from a user of my background installing a new OS virtually is not a slam dunk.
    – bmike
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:08
  • @bmike: I'm sure you're right and I also feel like a question like that could be useful. But the question would be likely to generate a list of things to look out for. There is no single correct answer. We refer to this as a "question that generates a list of correct answers". These types of questions are not welcome on Super User. Unless you want to make a community wiki and you have a starter answer to go with the question. To my understanding, Ask Different is less strict in that regard. So I definitely understand if this closure feels unwarranted.
    – Oliver Salzburg Mod
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:16
  • Sincere thanks - I am really trying to learn how to fit in here. I personally don't like CW and wouldn't ask this be changed to that (but it's your site and I'll respect what happens even if I question it a little). I will probably write a blog post and offer you guys first crack at it and publish it on Ask Different if it's not your cup of tea. I have had hundreds of times where Parallels and VMware kernel extensions cause problems on OS X. Also, if you enable home folder syncing all sorts of trouble can crop up so I would say the "your computer won't be affected" is not true generally.
    – bmike
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:20
  • @bmike: Well, one thing that can make a difference in people's decision to vote to close a question is an existing answer. Maybe people read your question and go "It's obvious! Nothing can go wrong" (just like me). But if you post your own answer to it (which is encouraged), people might go "Oh ok, that's what he's after". Maybe the question does have merit but it's not obvious from the question alone. But I don't want to imply that this is the course you should take with this question. Optimally questions stand on their own
    – Oliver Salzburg Mod
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 16:29
  • I can't post an answer when it's closed. I still don't know the answer, but it'll look a little like this when it's done. I wish you success in the contest but even with one running this really struck me as the community pre-emptively shutting down someone that came to learn without a rich MS Windows depth of knowledge. I could see closing it if the question ran off the rails with wild discussions or contentious answers, but this one was killed in the crib.
    – bmike
    Commented Oct 29, 2012 at 17:02

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