Windows 8 Consumer Preview Is Ready for Business

At CeBIT, Kevin Turner demonstrates how Windows 8 delivers a no-compromise experience.

KUALA LUMPUR — March 14, 2012 — In his CeBIT keynote, Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft, showed how Windows 8 will bring together the potential of a tablet with the power of a PC. He also invited IT professionals around the world to test the recently released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, now available for download at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year.

“Windows 8 will deliver the experiences people love and the enterprise-grade capabilities that IT departments demand,” Turner said. “We encourage IT professionals to begin testing it to get a firsthand experience of how Windows 8 will give people a beautiful, fast and fluid experience with the mobility and familiarity they need to effortlessly move between what they want to do and what they need to do.”

“We believe Windows 8 will bring an evolutionary solution to Windows users that delivers business productivity, while helping IT to manage and secure new devices using their existing infrastructure and tools,” said Al Gillen, program vice president, system software, IDC. “Windows 8 will help bridge the demands that end users are placing on IT departments with what IT wants for its business — a smooth transitional path to add tablet devices into an existing Windows client infrastructure.”

Windows 8 highlights for enterprise organizations include the following:

• Great user experience. Windows 8 bridges the gap between a personalized experience for users and the security and management features that IT professionals trust. Features include the new Windows 8 Start screen and fully immersive Metro style apps. People can be more productive with both multitouch and traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces. Critical line-of-business apps also can benefit from an immersive full screen, allowing people to easily interact with the app.

• Tablets without compromise. Windows 8-based business tablets are built for touch and are deeply personalized. Powerful, connected Metro-style applications are the focal point to create an immersive experience that helps eliminate distractions while having the productivity benefits of a PC. In addition, it works well with a mouse and keyboard. It also enables organizations to use Windows 7 productivity and line-of-business applications, and IT departments can leverage their existing infrastructure to help manage, secure and support it.

• New possibilities for mobile productivity. For people who are increasingly mobile, Windows 8 helps them stay connected and productive in a more secure way. Windows 8 includes Windows To Go — the ability to provide users with a full corporate copy of Windows 8 (along with users’ business apps, data and settings) on a USB storage device. Windows 8 also includes improvements to DirectAccess and built-in mobile broadband features that natively support 3G and 4G telecommunication. And Windows 8 can stay always connected with Metro-style apps.

• End-to-end security. Features such as Trusted Boot and improved BitLocker drive encryption, AppLocker, and claim-based access control help protect corporate data across the client device, the network and back-end infrastructure.

• Advancements in virtualization. With Windows 8, users can get a virtualized experience with high-definition graphics, support for touch and support for USB devices on a local PC. It will be easier for IT departments to implement virtual desktop infrastructures in a more cost-effective way. In addition, Windows 8 includes Microsoft Hyper-V, a high-performing client virtualization technology that enables enterprise developers to develop, debug and test multiple configurations of apps and operating systems on a single PC instead of each configuration requiring its own PC.

• Improved management. Windows 8 easily integrates into most existing client management infrastructures, and management tasks are easier with Windows PowerShell automation.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available worldwide for download to users running Windows 7-based PCs in English, French, German, Japanese and Simple Chinese languages. Windows 8 will also give businesses a personalized experience that is both convenient and productive to fit well with today’s changing work styles.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available for download and evaluation at http://preview.windows.com.


Windows 8 消费者预览版已经为企业做好了准备

在 CeBIT 上，Kevin Turner 展示了 Windows 8 将如何为企业提供毫不逊色的体验。

吉隆坡— 2012 年 3 月 14 日 — 微软 的首席运营官 Kevin Turner 在CeBIT 主题演讲中展示了 Windows 8 将如何集平板电脑的潜力和 PC 的性能于一身。他还邀请世界各地的 IT 专业人士来共同测试最近发布的 Windows 8 消费者预览版，下载地址为：http://preview.windows.com。

Windows 8 消费者预览版为测试这一全球最热门操作系统提供了更可靠的体验，继去年底推出 Windows 8 开发者预览版初始版本之后，面向迄今为止最广泛的用户群体发布。“Windows 8 将提供用户钟爱的体验和 企业级功能满足IT 部门的需要。”Turner 表示。“我们鼓励 IT 专业人士加入测试者的行列，亲身体验一下 Windows 8 如何为用户提供绚丽、快速而顺畅的体验，提供客户熟悉的环境，并支持移动功能，帮助用户在所想和所需之间进行轻松转换。”

“我们相信 Windows 8将为客户带来革命性的解决方案，它在提供企业所需工作效率的同时，还能帮助 IT 部门利用其现有基础设施和工具来管理和保护新设备，”IDC 系统软件项目副总裁 Al Gillen 表示。“Windows 8 将帮助消除最终用户对 IT 部门的期待和 IT 部门对其企业的期待之间的分歧，通过平稳过渡的方式将平板设备添加到现有 Windows 客户端基础设施中。”

Windows 8 为企业用户提供的价值包括：

• 卓越的用户体验。Windows 8 将消除用户个性化体验和 IT 专业人士信赖的安全和管理功能之间的分歧。新增功能包括新的 Windows 8 [Start]（开始）屏幕和引人入胜的 Metro 风格应用程序。无论使用多点触控，还是传统的键盘和鼠标界面，用户都将进一步提高工作效率。重要的业务应用程序也将获益于全屏界面的体验，允许用户实现与应用程序的轻松交互。

• 毫不逊色的平板电脑应用。基于 Windows 8 的企业平板电脑专门为触控功能量身打造，并可实现高度的个性化。强大、联系紧密的 Metro 风格应用程序是打造沉浸式体验的关键，这种体验可在避免干扰的同时提供高效的 PC 的工作效率。此外，Windows 8 平板电脑在使用鼠标和键盘时也同样表现出色。Windows 8 平板电脑还允许企业使用 Windows 7 生产力和业务线应用程序，并且 IT 部门可以利用现有基础设施来帮助对其进行管理、保护和支持。

• 为移动办公带来更多可能。对于用户对于移动性的更多需求，Windows 8 将帮助他们以更为安全的方式进行连接并保证工作效率。Windows 8 包含 Windows To Go，即一种通过 USB 存储设备为用户提供 Windows 8 完整企业版（以及用户的业务应用程序、数据和设置）的功能。Windows 8 还提升了 DirectAccess 和内置移动宽带功能，可本机支持 3G 和 4G 电信业务。并且 Windows 8 始终支持 Metro 风格的应用程序。

• 端到端的安全保护。可靠启动、进行改进的 BitLocker 驱动器加密、AppLocker 和基于声明的访问控制等功能，将帮助保护跨客户端设备、网络和后端基础设施中的企业数据。

• 更好的虚拟化功能。借助 Windows 8，用户将获得高分辨率图形、并支持触控和本地 PC USB 设备支持的虚拟化体验。IT 部门将可以通过更加轻松且经济高效的方式来实施虚拟桌面管理。此外，Windows 8 还包含 微软Hyper-V，这是一种高性能的客户端虚拟化技术，允许企业开发人员在一台 PC 上开发、调试和测试应用程序及操作系统的多种配置，而无需在独立的 PC 上测试每种配置。

• 提高管理效率。Windows 8 可以轻松集成到现有客户端管理基础设施中，并借助 Windows PowerShell 自动化简化任务管理。

Windows 8 消费者预览版可供全球范围内的用户下载，可在基于 Windows 7 的 PC 上运行，并提供简体中文、英语、法语、德语和日语五个版本。Windows 8 将为企业提供同时具备便捷和高效特性的个性化体验，以便适应当今不断变化的工作风格。

您可以在以下网址：http://preview.windows.com 获取并评价 Windows 8 消费者预览版。