In a monster blog post that would stretch the 640KB memory limit of early PCs, Microsoft has detailed the streamlined, just-11-clicks! upgrade process for Windows 8 — as in, the installer that appears when mom or pop insert a Windows 8 disc into their Windows 7 or Vista computer. Don’t worry if you’re a power user or IT admin, though: the reboot-into-installation-environment process is fundamentally unchanged, but 50% faster.
Basically, the Upgrade Advisor and Easy Transfer tools are being integrated into a single, end-to-end installer that’s capable of performing all of the preparatory tasks — compatibility checking, settings/files transfer, suspending blockers like BitLocker, and so on — and then carrying out the install. Additionally, the upgrader now has the option of downloading the Windows 8 installation files from the internet. This marks the first time that Microsoft has offered a consumer-oriented digital download of its Windows OS — and obviously might have been inspired by OS X Lion’s availability in the digital Mac App Store. To further lubricate the process, the Windows 8 install image has been squee ed down to a svelte 1.51GB (Windows 7 x86 is 2.32GB), and the digital download comes “pre-keyed” — you don’t have to enter 25-digita serial number during installation. Windows 8 will still be installable from DVD or USB key, incidentally.
Beyond changes to the upgrade front end, the actual behind-the-scenes installation engine has been improved. A clean Windows 7 install was fast — around 30 minutes — but, rather famously, the upgrade process could take more than 24 hours on a mature, workhorse computer. With Windows 8, a clean install should take 20 minutes, and a “super upgrade” (Microsoft’s term) should never take more than an hour. A lot of changes took place to make this happen, including hard linking to transferred files and settings instead of physically moving data on the disk, but check the Building Windows 8 blog if you want more details.
In case you were wondering, all of these changes are the result of consumer research: in 2010, when MS was making Windows 8 plans, it discovered that upgrading a PC is perceived as difficult. Presumably, in this case, “PC” refers specifically to Windows, and not Mac OS X. Finally, the blog post doesn’t mention how you purchase a digital copy of Windows 8 — but it’s probably too much to hope that it’ll be integrated with Windows Update or the Windows 8 installer. You’ll probably have to buy it from the Microsoft website.
Read more at Building Windows 8 (IT admins: there’s some more info about automated installation using the Assessment and Deployment Kit, too) — or check out our extensive Windows 8 coverage.
Windows 8 install/upgrade process 50% faster, 83% fewer clicks, web-based
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