What is Windows 8 core?
I've found some references, when looking for information on WAIK installs of Windows 8 of a varient called Windows 8 core, that can be installed off the professional edition disk. There's also a mention of it on Win Super Site that says
The cheapest, called MSDN Operating Systems, costs $699 a year ($499 renewal), and of course includes Windows 8 (Core), Windows 8 Pro, and Windows 8 Enterprise. You get five licenses each for Windows 8 Core and Pro, and one Multiple Activation Key (MAK) for Windows 8 Enterprise.
What is Windows 8 core? Is it the new 'home' edition or something else? What differentiates it from the pro and enterprise editions?
23 Answers
Windows 8 (Core) is simply Windows 8. It's the base (core) product, which Pro and Enterprise built on.
And I say that because I can find no official reference to a Core product and it was in parenthesis in your source (compared to the other editions where no parenthesis was used).
1The "Core" from "Windows 8 Core" simply emphasizes it is the "plain" Windows 8 and not one of the other versions (Pro, Enterprise, RT).
Paul Thurrott of WinSuperSite explicitly names Windows 8 Core in his giant comparison table of different Windows 8 editions (notice the plain "Windows 8" is absent from the table because it is referred to as "Core"):
More information about the different editions of Windows 8.
4It means the "Home" edition for all intents and purposes. Perhaps the best source for this is MSFT's own site (for Windows programmers). Search for "PRODUCT_CORE" here (which programmers rely on) and look at the "Meaning" column:
Note that it currently refers to it as "Windows 10 Home" but all other editions have their own qualifiers (e.g., search for "PRODUCT_PROFESSIONAL", "PRODUCT_ENTERPRISE", etc.) In fact, prior to the release of Windows 10, the "Meaning" column for "PRODUCT_CORE" (at the same link) referred to it as simply "Windows 8", which normally means the home edition by default (in the absence of the terms "Pro", "Professional" or "Enterprise").
