Things to Know Before you Download Windows 8

Microsoft today unveiled the “release preview” version of Windows 8 which mostly indicates that the new Windows operating system is feature-complete. Windows 8 Release Preview is available as a free download and it is very likely that your existing system specs are good enough to run Windows 8.

The System Requirements for Windows 8

According to this Windows 8 FAQ, any machine equipped with 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of hard disk space and 1 GHz processor should be able to handle Windows 8. The minimum RAM requirements are 2 GB in case you would like to install the 64-bit version of Windows 8.

Should you download Windows 8 Setup or the ISO Image?

As you may have noticed on the Windows 8 download page, the installation of Windows 8 can be done in two ways.

You can either take the easiest route and download the Windows 8 Setup program that’s also the default option.
Alternatively, you can download ISO Images of Windows 8.
If you are planning to install Windows 8 on your existing computer, either on a different partition (dual-boot) or just want to upgrade from an older version of Windows to Windows 8, the default Setup program is a good choice.

Please note that that your installed software programs will only be preserved if you are upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8. If your planning to install Windows 8 on top of Windows XP or Vista, only the files will be preserved but not the various software programs that you may have on the disk.

The Windows 8 ISO image may be more handy in other situations like:

Your computer has an x64 processor but is currently running the 32-bit version of Windows. If you want to install the 64-bit version of Windows 8, download the 64-bit ISO.
You want to install Windows 8 on your Mac (iMac or Macbook) using Boot Camp software.
You want to install Windows 8 on multiple computers. In that case, you can download the ISO once, create a bootable DVD and boot the other systems using this newly created Windows 8 disk.
You plan to run Windows 8 as a Virtual Machine inside your existing copy of Windows.
You are running Windows XP.
The universal product key for Windows 8 is TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF.

Will my software programs run inside Windows 8?

Before grabbing the ISO image of Windows 8, quickly run this setup utility and it will show a list of all software programs and hardware drivers on your system that are compatible with Windows 8. Alternatively, you can visit this page to see a list of all known software and hardware devices that are found to be working with Windows 8.

How should I go about installing Windows 8?

You can have Windows 8 on your computer in three ways – you can install Windows 8 side-by-side (also known as dual-boot), as a virtual machine (so that it runs inside your existing Windows just like any other software) or you can have Windows 8 as your primary OS (there’s no going back from here).

If you just want to try out Windows 8 but without modifying any of your existing set-up, the safest bet is to use a Virtual Machine. If you have a vacant disk partition or don’t mind creating one (it’s easy), go for the dual-boot option. Else, if you have a spare computer, you can consider upgrading to Windows 8 overwriting the previous installation of Windows.

Also note that if you are upgrading from Windows 8 Consumer Preview to the new Windows 8 Release Preview, none of your installed programs, files and account settings will be preserved though everything would be moved to the windows.old folder.
(source:labnol.org)

Read more

Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Hit by Cross-Platform Malware Attack

An attack has been discovered that serves up malware for all three platforms and opens up a backdoor on victimized systems. Windows, Linux and Mac OS X are being...

Windows, Linux and Mac OS X are being targeted in a cross-platform malware attack, according to security experts.

Researchers at F-Secure spotted the attack on a Colombian transport site. The attack begins with a signed Java applet and a social engineering ploy in the form of a dialog box prompting the user to run an application despite its digital certificate not being verified.

“The JAR file checks if the user’s machine is running in Windows, Mac or Linux then downloads the appropriate files for the platform,” blogged Karmina Aquino, a senior analyst with F-Secure. “All three files for the three different platforms behave the same way. They all connect to 186.87.69.249 to get additional code to execute. The ports are 8080, 8081, and 8082 for OSX, Linux and Windows, respectively.”

While the functionality of the backdoor Trojan is the same regardless of which operating system it is running on, the impact on Mac machines may be limited, noted Lysa Myers, a researcher with Mac-focused security vendor Intego.

“There is one part of the OS X version that is particularly notable: It is a PPC binary only, so it will require Rosetta in order to run on an Intel machine,” she blogged. “This is likely to severely limit prevalence of the OS X version.”

Rosetta is a dynamic binary translator for Mac OS X that allows PowerPC apps to run on certain Intel-based Macs without modification. It was released by Apple in 2006 when it moved off the PowerPC platform. Mac OS X 10.6, aka “Snow Leopard,” does not include Rosetta by default but retains an option for the user to include it. Mac OS X 10.7-known as “Lion”-does not support or include Rosetta at all.

“It’s also interesting to note that the components of this threat are created with readily available hack-tools, namely TrustedSec Social Engineering Toolkit and MetaSploit,” Myers said. “This is not something that was cleverly handcrafted, but something that was generated with tools made by other people. And given that the OS X component is not intended for current hardware, it’s likely that the person who planted this threat was not especially technically savvy.”

Both the command-and-control server and the hacked Colombian site have been reported, F-Secure’s Acquino added.

Because of its ubiquity, Java has become a favorite target of attackers. For example, just recently, the notorious Blackhole exploit kit added an exploit for CVE-2012-1723, which was patched by Oracle in June, to its arsenal of weapons.

While most malware still targets Windows, if malicious hackers want to maximize their chances of snaring a victim, it makes sense for them to develop a multi-platform attack, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

“This isn’t, of course, the first cross-platform malware that we have seen,” blogged Cluley. “For instance, in 2010 we saw the Boonana malware which similarly used a malicious Java applet to deliver a cross-platform attack that attempts to download further malware on Windows, Unix and Mac OS X.”

Read more

Windows 8 Adoption: 10 Issues That Could Hamper Sales

Windows 8 will soon start showing up on store shelves; it will be pre-installed on new PCs and available for download by PC owners who want to upgrade to the new version. But its prospects for rapid deployment across the PC world might be derailed by a variety of factors that are out of Microsoft's control.


Windows 8 is slowly but surely making its way to store shelves. The operating system is scheduled to be released in the fall, and when it's made available, Microsoft will hope to usher in an entirely new era of computing. From tablets to Ultrabooks to desktops, Windows 8 will be the latest operating system that can run on wide range of PC models from desktops, notebooks to tablets and as Microsoft hopes appeal to a wide array of customers.

Read more