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?
Best Answer
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).