Windows 8 Native Support for ISO Images and VHD Files

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Windows 8 Native Support for ISO Images and VHD Files

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Yet Another feature revealed for Windows 8, new windows to have native Explorer support for ISO and VHD files.

Steven Sinofsky in a post on the official Windows 8 blog said "In continuing with the improvements in core Windows functionality and also oft-requested features, we are adding native Explorer support for ISO and VHD files in Windows 8."

With the native support in the Explorer, Windows 8 enables easy access to the contents of two important storage formats, ISO and VHD files.

Whats new for ISO file in Windows 8?
Windows 8 will have things simple for user to work with ISO files. According to the details on the post – user has to just “mount” the ISO file (you can select mount from the enhanced Explorer ribbon or double-click or right-click on the file), and a new drive letter appears, indicating that the contents will be readily accessible. Windows will seamlessly create a “virtual” CDROM or DVD drive for you on-the-fly so you can access your data.

Whats new about VHD files in Windows 8?
The Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format is a publicly-available image format specification that allows encapsulation of the hard disk into an individual file for use by the operating system as a virtual disk in all the same ways physical hard disks are used.
In Windows 8 Accessing a VHD is as simple as what we’ve done with ISO files, but there is one important difference: rather than appearing as a removable drive (as is the case with ISO), VHDs appear as new hard drives.

For both the file support, you can right-click it and click Eject (or just use the Eject button on the ribbon). Any changes you’ve made remain saved within the file.

Official video about the quick guide about the feature:

If you want to download the video:
High quality MP4 link
http://media.ch9.ms/ch9/cf43/1d0000b3-0021-40d5-91d0-9f4e016ccf43/B8BVHD_high_ch9.mp4

Lower quality MP4 link
http://media.ch9.ms/ch9/cf43/1d0000b3-0021-40d5-91d0-9f4e016ccf43/B8BVHD_low_ch9.mp4

It seems that Windows 8 will feature support for important functions that a user has to install a third party application for. Support for VHD was on high demand and we all know how power user plays with ISO files.

So many issues are been addressed in the upcoming Windows 8.

Feel free to share your views with us.

Cheers,
Team