Test Drive the Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a Virtual Machine
If you're on the fence about the new Windows 8 consumer preview
and you're not sure whether all of the new features are enough
to make you want to upgrade, or whether you'd like the new Metro
interface, here's a safe way to give the preview a try without
risking a computer or a lot of setup time to do so: use
VirtualBox.  The system requirements for Windows 8 aren't
particularly high, but if you just don't want to dedicate a
whole computer to playing around with the preview, the folks at
ExtremeTech point out that the new consumer preview—unlike the
developer's preview from last year—takes to virtualization
remarkably well, and VirtualBox in particular. They have a
detailed walkthrough of the setup and configuration process,
complete with some common issues you may run into and how to fix
them. Update: So do we! Our guide was for the developer's
preview, but the steps are still solid.  Some of you are already
using some virtualization software to