Feel like having a short read just hours before the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is expected to be available? Why not read Microsoft’s new Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide for Business! The 16 page document was discovered by The Verge and details the various business-related features of Windows 8 and the Consumer Preview.
After a quick read of the document it’s clear that Microsoft is pushing Windows 8 hard not only for the consumer but for businesses as well. They believe that through immersive applications (those that are full screen and activated through the Start Screen), workers in your business will be more productive; especially with your own line of business apps.
The word productive appears more than just once. Microsoft thinks that the “support for multi-touch and traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces” could make users more productive, as well as how the “touch-first” interface is ideal for “today’s workers” and brings “new levels of productivity”.
Microsoft touts how Windows 8 is perfect on all hardware from ARM tablets to x64 desktop powerhouses, and how through Windows to Go you can have access to a corporate image of your Windows 8 installation on other devices (such as home PCs). Again, “Windows To Go drive enables remote worker productivity” and is completely secure to use.
“Internet Explorer 10 with Windows 8 is designed with business needs in mind” according to the document, which touts their SmartScreen filter as the perfect way to protect corporate users from “socially engineered malware”. Microsoft also makes it clear that business websites that worked in IE7-9 will still function completely fine in IE10 on Windows 8.
DirectAccess is also mentioned in the document, which provides a VPN-like way to access your internal corporate network from outside the office. The feature works when the company uses both Active Directory Domain Services and Windows 8 Server. 3G/4G network support is also mentioned as being native, with the metering system we have already seen.
Other things mentioned in the document include BranchCache, SkyDrive integration, Hyper-V clusters of print servers, BitLocker encryption and AppLocker security, secure boot, PowerShell and VHD support.
The full document can be downloaded here if you would like some light reading before you install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview in just a short time.