How to install Windows 8 (Developer Preview version) with Windows 7, side by side (Dual Boot)

Microsoft has just released a developer preview of their upcoming operating system Windows 8 (download here). Users can download the preview and install it on their systems.

Windows 8 has following System Requirements:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
• Taking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch
• To run Metro style Apps, you need a screen resolution of 1024 X 768 or greater

If you want to install the Windows Developer Preview without any DVD or USB then follow the steps below:

1. Download the ISO file from Microsoft (download here).
2. Mount the ISO using any mounting tool. Virtual CloneDrive in my case.
3. Do not use the autorun installer. The autorun installer only allows you to upgrade your existing Windows installation and does not allow you to install on a separate partition.
4. Navigate to the virtual disc and go to the folder "sources".
5. Run setup.exe and proceed.

To make Windows 7 the default:

You will notice upon first boot of Windows 8 you are presented with a graphical boot menu that will let you choose between your Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems. Windows 8 will be the default, meaning if you don't manually choose Windows 7 from the menu, your computer will boot with Windows 8 after three seconds of inactivity.

If you don't want to make Windows 8 the default, here's how to make Windows 7 the default:

1. On the boot menu, click on the button at the bottom that says "Change Defaults or Choose Other Options".
2. Hit "Choose the Default Operating System".
3. Pick Windows 7 from the menu.