Windows is notorious for disappointment. As an OS, booting up a new one in the past has felt akin to nervously clipping the wire on a live bomb made entirely of usability. If it’s wrong, you and everyone you know will suffer. If it’s right. Well, everything will be made a lot easier, and we’ll all hold hands and skip off into the sunset. Perhaps. So Windows 8 has finally teetered over its release date and into the wild, and as baited breath is held, and Microsoft’s track record flashes before the eyes of everyone involved, here’s a list of reasons why your business will, in fact, cuddle up to Windows 8 at night and thank it for existing. Perhaps.
Tablets! Phones! Devices!
No matter what business you’re in, a bunch of paperwork looks a hundred years old, whilst a Powerpoint presentation will have everyone sniggering at how ’90s you are. No, the best way to present anything to anyone these days is on a tablet. Whilst Windows 8 still has the option to run with menus and minimize buttons, you can also use it, in its entirety (just about) in Metro mode, which is optimized for tablets and other devices. Steven Sinofsky said in one his prestigious blog posts ‘Essentially, you can think of the Windows desktop as another App’.
Super-Fast Boot Up
Sometimes I feel like I need to get into work an hour early just so I can watch that Windows start up screen, blankly stare at the progress bar and that lovely W7 logo. Granted, that could be due to the unfathomable amount of junk I keep on the hard drive, but regardless, with an 8-second boot up time, you’ll be able to get to work quicker than ever before with the new Windows. Imagine the process of uninstalling, rebooting, installing, rebooting, updating, rebooting, all streamlined with 8-second breaks. Sounds good doesn’t it? Thanks W8!
Streamlined Software Market Place
Apple OSs tend to have an incredibly accessible and easy-to-use market place, and presumably that’s what Microsoft are going for here as well. This will mean the downloading of programs and apps will become easier than ever, eliminating lengthy and complicated installation processes, a staple that asserts a level of anxiety whenever it comes to updating your word processor, and making software available as a purely digital product in greater numbers. Life changing? Perhaps not, but it’ll speed things up, and the less time spent pleading your computer to do as it’s told, the better.
Security
Gone are the days of all your important files being piled up outside data centres on pieces of paper with a big sign saying ‘do not steal’ next to them. Oh no. Windows 8 supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, and that horrific mouthful means you’ll be protected against boot loader attempts at getting into your system. The ‘Metro’ interface is also said to tighten up on all aspects of security, helping deliver a less-cumbersome and more efficient browsing experience.
Works on your Old PC!
If you’ve not won the lottery recently, and a stranger hasn’t bestowed upon you a million Ugandan dollars via email, buying a new computer might not be immensely feasible. No problem though, because Windows 8 is designed to run with your current hardware; so if you’re sat on Windows 7, have survived on Windows Vista, or your PC is old enough to remember XP, you’ll still be able to upgrade your system to Windows 8, and it’ll be just as efficient. Which is nice.
Windows to Go
This neat little addition allows you to pop an image of Windows 8 onto a USB drive. Sharing computers remotely has always required making a big decision somewhere down the line, and older, less efficient ways of managing your files and programs from another computer simply won’t do. Sharing PCs or getting to your work wherever you are now comes in this streamlined little package that offers access to all the benefits of your new W8 OS!
Windows 8 is finally available for the public, so whether you’re a huge enterprise, or a small business, get ready to upgrade, and start enjoying all these productive new features!
This article was written by Rob Vicars on behalf of iHotdesk. For computing solutions and IT support in London, you need look no further, no matter what OS you’re running this week!
