I was playing in computerplanet, building a new workstation as my current desktop, though a quad core, is getting towards it's 4th birthday.  I noticed that I could only select 32Gb RAM if I opted for W8 PRO.  The standard version only let me select a max of 16Gb.  Is that one of the differences between the W8 versions - I couldn't immediately see anything mentioned about that on a comparison search.  Not convinced I need the additonal fluff that the Pro version provides.
 
As to whether I might need 32Gb, not sure but would like to know that the option is there if I did.
 
Cheers

Win 8 Pro is the $39.99 (US) download that Microsoft is currently offering.  You don't need 32GB for the Pro version.  It will work on lesser memory.  I don't know what the minimum is but I have it running on my "test" system with 8GB of RAM.

Thanks fireberd.  I'm not too worried about the minimum ram spec, I'm more interested to know whether the standard W8 version is limited to a max 16Gb ram, which is what seems to be suggested on the computerplanet build site.

I'm not too worried about the minimum ram spec, I'm more interested to know whether the standard W8 version is limited to a max 16Gb ram, which is what seems to be suggested on the computerplanet build site.

It's the same as Win7
Home Premium tops out at addressing 16GB of RAM.
To address more RAM, you have to go with the Pro version.


32GB was listed as max... because that's where the motherboard maxes out (not the OS).

No, you are both wrong.
Refer to Microsoft's web site for the full capabilities of each version of Windows 8.
http://msdn.microsoft.com...emory_limits_windows_8
As you can see, Windows Pro is 512GB while the regular version is 128.
It will probably come down to the physical limit the motherboard can take that determines the amount of RAM you end up having.
My moatherboard maxes out at 16GB so getting the Pro version was useless for me.

No, you are both wrong. Refer to Microsoft's web site for the full capabilities of each version of Windows 8. http://msdn.microsoft.com...emory_limits_windows_8 As you can see, Windows Pro is 512GB while the regular version is 128.

I stand corrected...
Most users will be "limited" to either 32GB (socket 1155) or 64GB (socket 2011 with 8 RAM slots) imposed by the motherboard.


Unless you like testing, I'd hold off on Win8 for the first six months.
BIOS updates, driver updates for core hardware, driver updates for audio hardware, and application/plugin updates will all be necessary for a completely smooth transition.