Windows 8.1 preview

I've been faffing around for a couple of hours trying to install the 8.1 preview without success. As a last resort (!) I did a web search and came across the PC Advisor site which mentioned ...

"Please note, if the update gives you an error message saying "the update is not applicable to your computer", then this most likely means your PC isn't using one of the languages supported by the Preview. Right now that's only Arabic, English (US), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish."

So it looks like trying to install the 8.1 preview on a system with English (UK) (which is probably most people reading here) is going to fail.

Thought I'd mention it here as it might save someone a bit of wasted time.

yeah thats pretty lame, all the major countries except uk.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/how-to-instal...

I assume tho if you installing as a clean install there be no issues as can just choose english US at start.

I see MS have now added a note on download page to say you need English (US) to install the preview.

"If you�re using an English version of Windows, you can only install Windows 8.1 Preview from the Windows Store if your OS base language is English (US)."

Makes me wonder if the alternate install method, via an ISO, also needs English (US) - the above is a bit ambiguous.

You can install the ISO with UK keyboard and localization even though it says it is "US English". Works fine for me in a VM (no way I'm overwriting my proper 8 installation with a preview!).

In reply to a post by AEP:

You can install the ISO with UK keyboard and localization even though it says it is "US English". Works fine for me in a VM (no way I'm overwriting my proper 8 installation with a preview!).

+1 Given that the Preview cannot be uninstalled and without a recovery disk you will be committed to a full clean re-install when the full commercial product is released, installing in a VM is the only way it makes sense. If you already have Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise you can install the IISO under Hyper-V very easily.

In reply to a post by AEP:

You can install the ISO with UK keyboard and localization even though it says it is "US English". Works fine for me in a VM (no way I'm overwriting my proper 8 installation with a preview!).

Have you noticed any differences with 8.1 or too early to tell yet?

In addition, are the apps like Mail updated ?

I haven't really had a chance to check it out in detail, but the interface is certainly improved. One thing I can say is that it runs perfectly in a VM whilst previews of Windows 8 were a dog in that environment.

Let's hope this is not an issue later in the year!

It appears that MS have now updated the app installation. You can install without using the ISO if you have English (UK) as your default language and also (with a small struggle) if you normally log on as a local user.