Microsoft recently showed off a rather innovative product at its Digital Worldwide Partner Conference (DWPC) that has some seriously interesting potential. Dubbed “Windows to Go”, the new portable version of Windows is essentially a 32GB memory stick specifically designed to carry around Windows 8 and save personal data, apps and settings. The stick essentially allows the user to plug in to a PC that is running Windows 7 and immediately begin running Windows 8 with the same saved data, all without any downloads or installation time.
Right now the Windows to Go stick seems to be aimed at enterprise customers, so that workers will be able to essentially take their work home with them even if they don’t personally own a copy of Windows 8. Alternatively, it could be very handy for travelling, as any computer that you run in to can suddenly become just like your home computer.
Remember, a lot of Windows 8 functionality is cloud-based, so users shouldn’t have to carry around document or image files in order to view and edit them. As long as you have an active internet connection you should be able to log in with Windows to Go and access your information from whenever.
Of course we’re expecting Microsoft to put some rather strict and, possibly, compulsory security measures in place for the Windows to Go USB keys. Otherwise it could become as easy as losing one tiny memory stick and whoever finds it will have access to a whole bunch of your personal information.
We think this is actually a brilliant idea. Many folk who work on a computer all day have to stay back late at the office, or spend valuable time converting files because they don’t have the same version of Windows running at home. It would also be extremely handy for the travelling business type who ends up using multiple computers in a single journey.
Alternatively this could be a really simple way to show pictures and travel logs to your friends and family. If Windows 8’s photo service is anything like that of iCloud all it should take is plugging this USB in to another computer and clicking on the stream. You won’t have to download the pictures to anything, wasting valuable time. All you have to do is plug in and go, once again assuming that you have a satisfactory internet connection at your destination.
What really has us hooked on this story is how innovative it is. We can’t recall seeing this kind of a service for this big a product before. It’s kind of like carrying around the foundation of your own personal Windows computer without also having to cart around the hardware. We’re very keen to see how viably these babies function once they hit shelves which should hopefully be close to the Windows 8 release that is currently slated for October.
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