Microsoft outlined the enterprise features and the
application compatibility of Windows 8 at TechEd North
America.
The company also announced updates to several Microsoft
Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) products.
"Windows 8 is enterprise-ready by design," said Antoine
Leblond, corporate vice president for Windows Web
Services at Microsoft. "Adding features that bring new
possibilities in mobility, productivity and security,
Windows 8 will delight developers, IT professionals and
the employees they support."
Now available for download are updates to several MDOP
products, which enable organizations to virtualize,
manage and restore data, applications and users'
experiences on Windows:
- The beta for Microsoft BitLocker Administration and
Monitoring (MBAM) 2.0 makes it easier for enterprises to
protect data with BitLocker and BitLocker To Go by using
Windows 8 support to simplify the provisioning process,
monitoring and enforcing compliance for improved
security, and reducing the cost of managing an encrypted
environment by integrating with existing managements
systems, while empowering users to support themselves
with a self-service recovery portal. A download of the
beta is available at http://www.microsoft.com/getMBAM.
- Both the Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management
(AGPM) 4.0 Service Pack 1 beta and release candidate for
the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 8 are
available today, providing support for Windows 8 Release
Preview. The download of AGPM beta is available
here, and the download of the DaRT 8
release candidate is available
here.
- The second beta for User Experience Virtualization
(UE-V) also will be available by the end of the month.
UE-V is designed to give individuals the ability to
change their device and keep their experience without
reconfiguring applications or settings in Windows 7 or
Windows 8. New features in the second beta include
roaming system settings between Windows 7 and Windows 8;
support for additional operating system settings, like
Start menu, Taskbar and folder options; Group Policy
support to ensure agent configuration consistency; and
the roaming and sync of settings between Internet
Explorer 8, 9 and 10.
Those wanting to download Windows 8 Release Preview and
test it in the business environment should visit
http://preview.windows.com.