dell venue 8 pro : from Android to windows

I second the answer to this question

Simple answer? — Nope!    

To start-off, it's unlikely that the chipsets are identical between those models; even then — you would need to root & hack a WIN-compatible BIOS into a ROM that's only been taught to speak Android, in order to bootstap the initial Windows install; pass or fail — forget about any warranty or support from Dell or Microsoft from then on. So right from the get-go — you're risking a lot to possibly save only $100 (US$)...

The tablet requires WIN8.1 right from the start, as its minimum OS (not 8.0 upgraded to 8.1);

The tablet version of WIN8.1 is OEM-only and different from any retail versions. It's designed to occupy, load and run in constrained storage & RAM; the tablet version of WIN8.1 occupies about 15GB or less and runs smoothly in 2GB of RAM; a retail WIN 8.1 would choke a tiny tablet — like trying to stuff a horse's foot into Cinderella's slipper!

The Venue 8 tabs have been shipping in quantity for 3 months; back in October forums were full of chatter about doing this, but 3 months later, that chatter has pretty-much stopped and Google still couldn't point me to a single instance where anybody has succeeded...

I suggest you sell your legit copy of WIN8 on eBay or Amazon, & put the proceeds towards your Venue 8 Pro purchase; you'll also get a licensed version of Office 2013 at no additional cost!

No you can't install Windows 8/8.1 on the Venue 8.  

The Windows 8.1 on the V8P is no different than any other Windows 8.1 version... plenty of people have installed 8.1 Enterprise on the V8P, it works fine, although using more HD space.  

Several of the Enterprise inital defaults will be inappropriate for a V8Pro tablet, unless installed as an in-place upgrade to the tablet's OS; also — out of the box, there's only about 9GB available for a user's stuff on a 32GB Venue 8 Pro — before any swap files, restore points or driver upgrades chew into that... Makes antything less-than 64GB version impractical for upgrade, and maintaining it will be a manual hassle because it's bound to regularly confuse the heck outta Dell & Intel, & M'soft auto-detect & push delivery of upgrades.

Because you can do something, doesn't mean you should...

Of course you are on your own if you choose to install it, but it has been done a bunch of times.  There is even a thread on here Dell is assisting with in how to PXE boot the VP8/VP11 so enterprises can install their custom versions of Windows 8.1 on the tablet.   It's the reason they let you download the whole driver .cab file, so you can inject the drivers into your own custom installs... 

Updates from MS do not work any different than any other Windows 8/8.1 computer.  

Hi Lou, 

It is actually possible to install windows in the same way that gives you lots of space.

Google: "Wimboot", and look at the microsoft technet articles.

It is fairly complex process if you aren't tech savvy, but no where near "impossible".

So the answer to this question, given that others have installed win8.1 enterprise on their other devices; is "Yes" but it isn't a matter of plugging in the USB stick and hitting the "install" button.  If you want to do it "right" you will need to study the Wimboot installation method, and go and find posts from those discussing how to install windows 8.1 on the android Venue8 Pros.   (this might help)

Finally, Lou is wrong; there is no such thing as a special windows 8 version for phones or tablets.  Windows 8.1 with Bing is windows 8.1 with a different default search engine, there are no optimizations specific to this device that you can't get with a standard windows 8.1 installation (and proper drivers).