WINDOWS 8 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Windows 8 is the newest member of the Windows family, and everyone at Microsoft is very excited about it. Microsoft reimagined Windows 8 to reflect the way people work and play, the devices they want to use, and the explosion of social media. You might be tempted to think that Windows 8 simply is a consumer release—and there are certainly a lot of great new features that consumers are going to love—but Windows 8 has a lot for businesses and IT pros, too. The new user interface and app model enable businesses to create their own line-of-business (LOB) apps to help improve users‘ productivity. The operating system improves on the fundamentals, such as speed, reliability, and security. Lastly, Windows 8 works with your existing infrastructure but also offers new ways to deploy and manage users‘ desktop environments.

Why windows 8?

Users have broad access to consumer devices (e.g., laptop PCs, tablet PCs, and mobile phones using modern technology) at home, and this device proliferation leads to higher user expectations of technology at work. You don‘t need an analyst to tell you that users have more personal computing devices and that those devices are often compelling. The digital generation entering the work place raises these expectations to a whole new level. This is a generation that has grown up completely fluent with digital technology (e.g., texting, instant messaging, and social media). They are digital natives and have significantly different beliefs about the tools they should be able to use at work. Digital natives are also increasingly mobile and operate at a very fast pace. Their quick pace, combined with ubiquitous connectivity, blurs the lines between people‘s work and personal lives. As those lines blur, their personalities and individual work styles impact how they get their work done and what technology they prefer to use. As a result, they want a say in the technologies they use to get their jobs done.

This trend is aptly called the ―consumerization of IT. An example of consumerization is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program, where users can bring their own laptop PC, tablet PC, or Smartphone to work and use them to access a work desktop hosted in the datacenter. Another example is the use of social networking at work—for work.

It‘s certainly not a secret that people buy their own smart phones for work, use unapproved websites, or download unapproved applications on a work PC. They do so because the technology that they use at home is often better than the technology available on the job. Consumerization of IT is great, as it unleashes people‘s productivity and passion, innovation, and competitive advantage. We believe in the power of saying ―Yes‖ to users and their technology requests in a responsible way. Our goal at Microsoft is to partner with IT to enable you to embrace these trends but also ensure the environment remains secure and well managed. While Microsoft knows that embracing the consumerization of IT can be challenging, the company‘s strategy can help
overcome those challenges. That strategy is to:

• Provide the experiences and devices that users love and expect.
• Deliver enterprise-grade solutions that you can use to manage and secure them.

The following sections describe how Windows 8 is a key part of this strategy.

Experiences and Devices

Microsoft knows that business users often have to choose between convenience and productivity. Windows 8 tablets (i.e., x86 tablets) offer users a no-compromise tablet experience. Windows 8 delivers a touch-first experience along with full support for mouse and keyboard. It‘s a no- compromise experience that gives users the convenience and mobility of a tablet combined with the power and familiarity of a full PC. Users can move effortlessly between work and personal activities. Not only that, but users can have a connected experience with apps from the Windows Store while continuing to use the same desktop LOB and productivity apps they currently use on Windows 7. Finally, Windows 8 offers new possibilities for mobile productivity.

Enterprise-Grade Solutions

Windows 8 also offers enterprise-grade solutions:

• Enhanced end-to-end security From the client device to back-end infrastructure, Windows 8 offers features that improve the security and reliability of the systems in your company. From power-on to power-off, Windows 8 can provide a more secure foundation to help keep businesses running and users productive.
• Management and virtualization advancements Windows 8 includes Enhancements to manageability and virtualization features that help you manage Client PCs. For example, Windows To Go provides new ways to give users a super mobile desktop experience on almost any PC.