I have been using Windows 8 for last few months. When Windows 8 CP released I installed CP & subsequently RP too. When I wanted to install some 3rd party application in my Windows 8 VM, I realized that these applications require .NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0 in few cases. Apparently my virtual machine does not have internet connection. Obviously the first step for us is to check the Program and Features to enable any available additional features in an Operating System. This is what you see in your Control Panel –> Program and Features. Click on Turn Windows features on or off.

Here you can see .NET Framework as a feature and by default the feature is disabled. You can enable this particular right away using this GUI Tool but in order to do that you need to be connected to internet i.e. Online Mode. Other way is using DISM Command and this can be done in an Offline Mode using Windows 8 installation media. Let’s see these 2 methods.

Method 1: When you are Online, connected to Internet.

In order to install the following window click on the .NET Framework 3.5 (included .NET 2.0 and 3.0) select it & click OK

Now, it will download the entire package from the internet & install the .NET Framework feature.

Method 2: When you are Offline and not connected to Internet

If you open CMD.EXE with Administrative Privileges i.e. at elevated level & run the this DISM command dism /online /get-features you will see that from the State that .NET Framework is not part of the Operating System.

So the first thing you need to do is to copy the required package to local machine before you run the command to install .NET Framework. To do that use Windows 8 ISO/DVD/USB Media. You need to copy SXS folder to local machine located at D:\sources\sxs (In this case D: your drive letter on which you have loaded Windows 8 Media)

You can also use the following command to copy this folder locally. xcopy d:\sxs\*.* c:\sxs /s

Once completed, in order to install this feature you can run the following command dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFx3 /All /Source:C:\sxs /LimitAccess  and hit Enter

After completing the installation of .NET Framework 3.5 you can see that the feature is enabled in the Control Panel –> Program and Features

Bingo. Now you can enable .NET Framework feature on Windows 8 without needing of an internet connection.

Enjoy

Update: There was a small typo in the command, I missed including : between source:C:\. I did fix it. Thank you all for your comments & pointing that out :)

Microsoft Windows Essentials 2012 now available (previously known as Windows Live Essentials)

Download Windows Essentials 2012 (Web installer)
Download Windows Essentials 2012 (Offline installer)

Today marks an important milestone in the Windows 8 project. The Windows 8 team is proud to share with you that a short while ago we started releasing Windows 8 to PC OEM and manufacturing partners. This means our next milestone will be the availability of exciting new models of PCs loaded with Windows 8 and online availability of Windows 8 on October 26, 2012.

More details http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/08/01/releasing-windows-8-august-1-2012.aspx

• August 15th: Developers will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via your MSDN subscriptions.
• August 15th: IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through your TechNet subscriptions.
• August 16th: Customers with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization.
• August 16th: Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8.
• August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS) receive access to Windows 8.
• September 1st: Volume License customers without Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 8 through Microsoft Volume License Resellers.

More details http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/08/01/windows-8-has-reached-the-rtm-milestone.aspx

Also, Windows Server 2012 has been released to manufacturing. Get out your calendars and free up some time on September 4.  That’s when Windows Server 2012 will be generally available for evaluation and purchase by all customers around the world.  On that day we will also host an online launch event where our executives, engineers, customers and partners will share more about how Windows Server 2012 can help organizations of all sizes realize the benefits of what we call the Cloud OS.  You will be able to learn more about the features and capabilities and connect with experts and peers.  You’ll also be able to collect points along the way for the chance to win some amazing prizes. You don’t want to miss it.  Visit this site to save the date for the launch event.

More details http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/08/01/windows-server-2012-released-to-manufacturing.aspx

Enjoy

It’s 15th August 2012 & as per the previous announcement Windows 8 is now available for MSDN & TechNet Subscribers.

For Developers, if you have MSDN Subscription then you can download Windows 8 RTM & Visual Studio 2012 RTM.

For Developers here are some of the resources from Visual Studio & Windows Teams.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsappdev/archive/2012/08/15/windows-8-rtm-is-available-for-developers.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/webdev/archive/2012/08/15/visual-studio-2012-rtw.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jasonz/archive/2012/08/15/visual-studio-2012-and-net-framework-4-5-released-to-the-web.aspx

For IT Professionals, if you have TechNet Subscription then you can download Windows 8 RTM.

Windows 8 Evaluation for Developers

This is intended for developers building Windows 8 apps and IT professionals interested in trying Windows 8 Enterprise on behalf of their organization.

The Windows 8 Enterprise 90-day evaluation is available to developers to build and test Windows 8 apps on the final version of Windows 8. After installing Windows 8, go to the Windows Dev Center developer downloads page to install Visual Studio 2012 and related tools to build Windows 8 apps.

If you’re not an MSDN subscriber, you can download an evaluation version of Windows 8 RTM from TechNet. Note this version will expire and you cannot upgrade.

For details visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

Enjoy