Windows To Go: a companion to Windows 8 [TechEd]

For Microsoft, Windows 8 is the future of computing, so the tech giant is doing everything it can make sure people use it.

At Microsoft’s Africa edition of its TechEd conference, there was some buzz around one of the ways it is trying to make this happen — namely, Windows to Go.

The company launched Windows To Go (WTG), an operating system on the go, not too long ago. According to Microsoft, Windows To Go is a “fully manageable, corporate image installed on a bootable certified USB drive”.

Aimed at businesses and marketed as part of the company’s enterprise offering, the transferable OS is apparently not intended to be a “replacement option for all enterprise devices”. It is just meant to offer employees a better and accessible way to stay fully productive and connected to resources across a variety of work experiences.

“All of the great technologies you use with Windows 8 Enterprise work with Windows To Go: Group Policy, BitLocker, BranchCache, AppLocker, App-V, UE-V, and DirectAccess. Windows To Go is literally Windows 8 Enterprise in your pocket,” says Microsoft.

The point of WTG is to make being productive easy with or without network connectivity.

Packed with features

Work from home

WTG gives employees the ability to travel light with their corporate image, apps, and policies all provisioned on a Windows To Go drive for use on their home or personal computer.

Bring your own device to work (BYOD)
In the age of BYOD Microsoft reckons that most employees are already accessing their company’s enterprise network at work from a personal device, WTG allows them to stay productive no matter the device.

Up and running on Windows 8

The tech giant figures a product such as WTG will allow employees to test, evaluate, or take advantage of Windows 8 on their existing hardware before it’s officially installed on their PC.

Maintain business productivity

The system is also primed to maintain business productivity during unexpected events that compromise primary PCs or work locations.

All about certification

To run Windows to Go, the USB boot must be enabled.

“PCs certified for use with Windows 7 or Windows 8 can be configured to boot directly from USB, check with the hardware manufacturer if you are unsure of the ability of your PC to boot from USB,” says Microsoft.

Currently not all hard drives are able to support WTG but the company is rolling out with supported devices.