On the surface, Windows 8 has what it takes to make business users happy. Microsoft’s new OS offers the touch-friendly interface and responsiveness of the iPad, plus the versatility of the traditional desktop and the ability to run tons of traditional apps.

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2. Realistic Expectations
Many are predicting a not-so-happy ending
for the business community. “Businesses will
choose to drag their feet on adopting
Windows 8,” said Al Gillen, IDC’s vice
president of system software, “for the simple New OS
reason that they don’t want to be the ones to
find out what problems exist in the product.” Touch-Friendly Interface
But are these low expectations proof that
business leaders should avoid Windows 8 Versatility of a Desktop
altogether?
See our eight Windows 8 features that may Enterprise & Small Business Features
compel you to move sooner rather than later
for your next OS:
Full article insight here

4. Laptop power plus tablet convenience
• According to studies by NPD and Vertic, the
financial, health care, education and
government industries are increasing their
tablet usage, thanks to the need to take quick
notes, make presentations on the fly, execute
research online and send emails.
• Converting workflow to a slate interface
improves employee response time, increases
team decision-making time and quickens
resolution of critical issues.
• A Windows 8 device puts that performance
enhancement into business users’ hands,
while simultaneously giving them a device
that can easily transition into a laptop for
traditional productivity assignments.
Full article insight here

5. Office, evolved
• The new suite includes plenty of touch-friendly
interface tweaks for Windows 8 machines. Those
perks join much improved tools for better workflow
management and team collaboration too.
• Microsoft’s new set of Office 365 Web apps lets
users create, edit and share documents
online, giving business users a built-in architecture
for managing and editing documents through the
Web.
•Excel, PowerPoint and Word 2013 documents, users
can add comments to files, and readers who want to
respond to those comments can do so directly in the
document or they can email, IM, text or even video
chat with team members (via Microsoft’s corporate
communications client Lync or via Skype).
• Road warriors or work-anywhere employees will
also be pleased with Microsoft Lync which includes
the ability to host audio and video meetings
complete with screen sharing and high-definition
video streaming.
Full article insight here

6. Better virus protection and security
In Windows 7, Microsoft Defender guarded
against invasive spyware and pop-up ads, but
it lacked protection against anti-virus threats
such as trojans, worms and bot-net attempts.
With Windows 8, Defender gets a bolder
shield to protect against all of the above, right
from the operating system’s first launch.
•The new Defender provides only basic anti-
virus defense, but will likely save IT managers
or small business owners the time to pay for
and install third-party virus protection from
McAfee or Norton.
•Trusted Boot and Measured Boot are two
new protections against Rootkits that attack
during the PC boot process.
•Enhanced BitLocker. can now render whole
hard drives unreadable to un-credentialed
users, which moves beyond scrambling
particular pockets of data such as previous
versions of Windows
Full article insight here

7. Improved performance and smarter backups
Windows 8 not only launches much faster
than its Windows 7 forebear, it uses a new
boot-up bridge called the Unified Extensible
Interface (UEFI) to access graphical drivers
before the operating system is fully active.
• Introducing the Refresh Tool: Windows users
can essentially reinstall the OS while
maintaining their own settings, document
libraries and customizations.
•New feature called File History saves a
running timeline of all files — just like Mac OS
X’s Timeline feature — to make backing up
important documents and data an automated
process. That’s sure to save IT managers time.

8. More efficient wireless connection management
Rather than simply search out the nearest
Wi-Fi network, the manager measures each Connection
Standby
signal’s throughput and chooses the source Mode
with the strongest bandwidth instead.
•Connection Standby Mode – Allows updating
while asleep.
Analyzes
Strongest
Wi-Fi Usage
Tracking
•Airplane Mode – Help save battery life and
Bandwidth Manager
prevent unwanted drain.
• Data Meter – Avoid overage fees by keeping
track of your usage and save the company OS
Integrated
Drivers

9. Exchange ActiveSync built-in
Outlook 2013 has built-in support for
Exchange ActiveSync, the email solution that
makes it very simple to connect email
accounts to Android, iOS or Windows Phone
devices.
•ActiveSync ingrained in the OS and
Outlook, savvy end-users or small business
managers should have no problem
connecting multiple email inboxes, syncing
calendars and managing contacts on
Windows 8 laptops or tablets.
Full article insight here

10. Windows to Go makes Windows 8 plug-and-play on any PC
Windows to Go, available only in
Windows 8 Enterprise, allows you to
put all the power of Windows 8 on a
USB key. The bootable OS image
includes support for any apps added
to the image by support staff.
You’ll also love hibernation mode
and access to the host computer’s
storage drive.

11. Better Support forVirtualized systems and remote desktop support
For Windows 8, Microsoft offers multiple
virtualization options, including a tool to use
Windows XP as a virtual OS on a Windows 8
machine.
• The PC-within-a-PC tool is especially. For
instance, with Microsoft Server 2012 and a
technology called User Experience
Virtualization, employees can access a
remote, server-side and virtual copy of their
Windows 8 desktop, even if the local machine runs
Windows 7.
•Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) creates
multiple virtual PCs on one physical computer. So, if
an office has an equipment crunch, one laptop can
be assigned to several users, each with their own
distinct virtual desktop that is complete with
independent customizations, settings and personal
setups.
Plus, because Windows 8 runs Hyper-V, the
evolutionary upgrade to Windows Virtual PC (via
Microsoft Server 2012), there’s roughly no slow-
down between the actual interface and the virtual
one

12. To learn more about Windows 8 and the latest technology for business
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