Microsoft has added more flesh to the bones of the the upcoming Windows 8 Enterprise, after it treated it as a footnote in a post on earlier this week.
In an 18 April blog post, Erwin Visser, senior director of Windows at Microsoft said Windows 8 Enterprise features include all the capabilities that customers get with Windows 8 Pro plus premium features designed to provide the mobile productivity, security, manageability and virtualisation needs of today’s businesses.
Some of the features that will be available exclusively to Windows 8 Enterprise customers include Windows To Go, DirectAccess and BranchCache. Windows To Go is a corporate Windows 8 desktop on a bootable external USB stick. This will allow IT organisations to support the “Bring Your Own PC” trend and businesses can give contingent staff access to the corporate environment without compromising security, Visser said.
Other Windows 8 Enterprise features include AppLocker, which can help mitigate issues by restricting the files and apps that users or groups are allowed to run. Microsoft also added enhancements in Microsoft RemoteFX and Windows Server 2012 that provide users with a rich desktop experience with the ability to play 3D graphics, use USB peripherals and use touch-enabled devices across any type of network (LAN or WAN) for VDI scenarios. And new Windows 8 app deployment scenarios allow domain joined PCs and tablets running Windows 8 Enterprise to automatically be enabled to side-load internal, Windows 8 Metro style apps.
“In addition to these features, customers will get improvements to the fundamentals, including end-to-end security and better manageability,” Visser said. “Businesses will also benefit from the immersive, personalised experience Windows 8 has to offer and the no-compromise business tablet that will mean businesses no longer have to choose between the functionality of a tablet or the productivity of a PC. There’s a good summary of these features in a press release we issued last month.”
In addition, with Windows 8, Microsoft also is enhancing its Software Assurance (SA) benefits to meet the needs of today’s workforce. “We will be making improvements to Windows Software Assurance that provides business customers with better ways to enable these flexible work styles,” Visser said.
Visser added that after Windows 8 Enterprise becomes available, Software Assurance customers will have the following new use rights:
In addition to Windows 8 Enterprise, Software Assurance customers also have the ability to subscribe to Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). MDOP helps enterprise customers take advantage of desktop virtualisation, manage Windows features, and restore user productivity after a system issue. Microsoft also added User Experience Virtualisation (UE-V), which allows individuals to change their device without reconfiguring applications or settings in Windows 7 or Windows 8.
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