Microsoft has shared some added details about the makeup of Windows 8 Enterprise, the version of its upcoming new operating system designed specifically for large businesses.
On Tuesday, Microsoft briefly mentioned the enterprise version of Windows 8 in a blog post describing the consumer versions it will offer, but it did not provide additional details until Wednesday, when Microsoftee Erwin Visser blogged about Windows 8 Enterprise. "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 virtualization needs of today’s businesses, Visser wrote.
Among other things, the new business OS will attempt to harness the much-discussed BYOD phenomenon, where employees bring their own devices into the workplace. This "consumerization" of IT has exploded over the past few years, making life easier for employees but more difficult for IT staff, who are charged with securing access to company data.
Lending a helping hand to these IT folk, Windows 8 Enterprise will offer a tool called Windows To Go. This provides a portable version of the OS that can be booted from a USB stick, providing completely separate and ostensibly secure means of access a corporate network from personal devices. The company will also include a tool called DirectAccess, which provides remote access to a corporate network without launching a separate VPN, or virtual private network.
Other Windows 8 Enterprise tools include BranchCache, which lets PCs cache files, websites, and other content from central servers, so that they needn't repeatedly download them, and AppLocker, which restricts the files and applications users are allowed to run.
Visser also said that businesses users can benefit from general improvements to its flagship OS and the new version of the OS that's designed to run on a tablet. "Customers will get improvements to the fundamentals, including end-to-end security and better manageability," he wrote. "Businesses will also benefit from the immersive, personalized 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."
Windows 8 Enterprise is available to customers who sign up for Microsoft's Software Assurance agreement, which the company says will be enhanced when the new OS debuts. Among other things, the new agreement gives businesses the rights to use the new Windows To Go tool and Microsoft's Windows RT Virtual Desktop Access, which provides remote access to virtual Windows desktops.
