So, I did it, installed Windows 8 RTM on my MacBook Pro as soon as I could after it showed up on MSDN. For those of you wanting to do the same:

The Laptop Configuration

First of all, I have a MacBook Pro 13″ Mid-2010 Model, 8 GB of RAM and I upgraded the hard drive to a 512 GB Crucial SSD (http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT512M4SSD2). With some inspiration from a few people I decided to go 100% boot-to-vdh (http://www.andrewconnell.com/sharepointben//archive/2012/06/22/moving-exclusively-to-boot-to-vhds.aspx). Currently I only have two VHDs, Windows 8 Release Preview and Windows 8 RTM.

The History (Windows 8 Release Preview)

Windows 8 Release Preview had one major issue on the MacBookPro, the Dynamic Tick (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2727113). This KB is a supposed fix for the issues, however in my case it didn’t work so I had to apply the bcdedit fix(http://www.withinwindows.com/2012/06/28/workaround-for-windows-8-freezing-issues/). Several people reported that the fix didn’t work if the hotfix was installed. Needless to say, it caused me to worry what would have with RTM.

The Here and Now (Windows 8 RTM)

If you have a Live account with a custom domain go read this on how to set it up with Windows 8 (Another “issue” in early version that wasn’t fixed):

  1. Enter a valid Live ID (one that ends with hotmail.com, live.com, etc)
  2. Click Next
  3. This screen will show your Live ID and ask for password, you can actually change the Live ID here. Type in your custom Live ID ([email protected])
  4. Enter your password
  5. Click Next, keep going through the process. Now your Live ID is used to sign into Windows 8 and Synchronize everything.

First of all, I installed Boot Camp 4.0 to get all my MBP Drivers. Almost everything installs, the last couple device drivers can be installed by searching the Boot Camp CD.

As for the Dynamic Tick, Windows 8 RTM STILL has the Dynamic Tick issue, I experienced it mid-morning after running for about 8 or 9 hours. I applied the bcdedit fix from above and have been running for 10 hours without any freezes.

This evening I had a video driver error so I went out to the GeForce site and downloaded the latest mobile video driver (http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/45856). I have the GeForce 320m Video Card.

The Conclusion

Overall I’ve been really happy with Windows 8 and after the tweaks above everything has been running smoothly. I haven’t run into any compatibility issues yet with software and I’ve really been enjoying some of the new apps in the Windows store. I’ll continue to update this post if there are any other “gotchas” I find with Windows 8 RTM on my MacBook Pro.