Businesses hated Windows Vista. It required new drivers, and new security features like User Account Control caused problems with older applications. Computers that shipped before Vista often lacked the RAM and graphics hardware to take full advantage of the new operating system's capabilities. It made extensive changes to how the operating system was customized and deployed. Businesses hated Windows Vista so much that they overwhelmingly chose to stay on Windows XP. Even after these problems were largely resolved, it took a new operating system to get companies to start upgrading.

Windows 7 is a big step up from XP, both in terms of security and features. For businesses who are in the middle of or have already completed Windows 7 migrations, can Windows 8 offer them enough incentive to consider upgrading again, or do its interface changes doom it to share Vista's fate?

New business-oriented features in Windows 8

Back in the days of the Consumer Preview, Microsoft put out a PDF detailing the most pertinent Windows 8 features for small and large businesses (that PDF is still a good resource for the Release Preview and will remain so for the release version of Windows 8, so read up if you’re interested). Some of these have relatively broad appeal for businesses, while others will be more useful for particular niches.

Of broad interest is the new Reset and Refresh function, which can be used to return a user’s PC to a pristine state without necessarily wiping their data. Using the new recimg command line tool, administrators can capture an image of a system before deployment and store it on the computer’s hard drive or a networked share. This should be useful in both large and small businesses in the event that a user’s computer is damaged by malware, user error, or some other catastrophe.

For businesses that care to develop their own Metro apps, administrators can sideload those applications onto Windows 8 PCs with the same group policy controls used to manage and restrict access to the larger Windows Store. In-house Metro apps don’t need to be submitted to or downloaded from the Windows Store proper, though they will require the use of valid security certificates.

We’ve also got Windows To Go, a Windows 8 Enterprise-only feature which is positioned as an answer of sorts to the Bring Your Own Device phenomenon. This is true at least when it concerns laptops—using a sufficiently large external drive, employees will be able to boot their home desktops and laptops into an IT department-approved load of Windows 8, complete with apps, to get work done. This sounds interesting in theory, though the list of technical restrictions combined with the relatively small number of scenarios in which this functionality would actually be useful will probably keep it a niche feature.

For system administrators, Windows 8 also updates Microsoft’s kit of Windows deployment tools in the form of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). This combines the old Windows AIK and OPK into a single package. Windows 8 clients with compatible hardware will also be able to take advantage of Microsoft’s Hyper-V to more easily use and maintain virtual machines for testing or other purposes.

In addition to its new features, businesses stand to benefit from some of the under-the-hood work done in Windows 8. New features including demonstrably faster boot time, better built-in support for technologies like USB 3.0 and cellular antennas, improved multi-monitor support, and security updates like an improved ASLR implementation and system-wide SmartScreen filter for applications. Most hardware can take advantage of these additions without needing upgrades if it already provides an acceptable Windows 7 experience (though for ideal performance, you should refer to our recommended system requirements guide).

Roadblocks

The same PDF that demonstrated some of Windows 8’s benefits also demonstrates why Windows 8 will have trouble ousting Windows 7: some of Windows 8’s most useful business features (including BitLocker, AppLocker, DirectAccess, and BranchCache) are already supported in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too. There are many enhancements to be gained by moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. Security enhancements include User Account Control, an improved Windows Firewall, and Address space layout randomization (ASLR). There are improvements to Windows Explorer and most bundled applications, Windows Search, built-in Windows Update, and Aero Snap. Under-the-hood enhancements include completely reworked graphics, network, and audio stacks; better SATA and hardware support; robust 64-bit support; and new management features for administrators. The improvements that come with Windows 8 are both less numerous and less far-reaching.

Windows 7 is stable, and will be in its "mainstream" support phase (meaning that it will receive new features like Internet Explorer and other updates) until 2015. Its "extended" support phase (meaning it will continue to receive security patches) doesn't expire until 2020. The fact of the matter is that PCs in 2012 don’t need Windows 8 the same way PCs in 2009 needed Windows 7.

This will be Windows 8’s biggest problem. Windows 7 brought many security, feature, and manageability enhancements that sold the product as a solid improvement over XP. The fact that both reviewers and customers received it better than Windows Vista made deploying it less of an uphill battle. Windows 7 also benefited from the years of work done on Vista-compatible drivers and applications, meaning that it was stable enough for business deployment basically as soon as it was released—this was a big deal. Many IT administrators wouldn’t even consider past Windows versions before the first service pack was released.

The other elephant in the room is Metro. Without getting into whether Metro is a "good" or a "bad" change for desktop and laptop PCs, one must admit that it is fundamentally different. Thus, it's likely to require "getting used to" at best and extensive retraining at worst.

If you’ve been in IT for a while, you may remember having difficulty upgrading some users from Office 2003 to Office 2007 because of the sheer number of differences between the legacy Office interface and the new Ribbon. Imagine that sort of jarring UI change, except spread throughout every level of the operating system. Even once they’ve reached the Desktop, things like controlling wireless network connections and shutting the computer down are substantially different from before. The real or imagined difficulties in retraining users to use the new Metro interface is by itself enough to give change-averse IT managers pause.

Even that doesn't quite describe the retraining problems that Windows 8 is going to cause. With the Ribbon, Microsoft's stated goal was to replace the legacy menu system with something that made buried features more discoverable and accessible. Retraining would be required, yes, but after that initial hurdle was cleared, users should be able to find and use more advanced features without needing as much help. Metro makes no such promises—its interface has been optimized for touch. While the new Start screen and Metro environment are improvements over the old Start menu in several ways, for desktop users there are many commands that have been changed merely for the sake of change. Burying the "shut down" command in a Charms menu doesn't make it any harder or easier to use, but it does make it different. This sort of difference will generate the most support calls to the helpdesk.

Can it succeed?

Windows 8 could gain a foothold in businesses by coming in on tablets, which would theoretically combine the convenience of the tablet form factor with the Active Directory management features IT admins are used to on desktops and laptops. There are two problems with this: the first is that Windows RT, the ARM-enabled Windows 8 variant that is likely to ship on many Windows tablets, doesn't support Active Directory management in the first place. The second is that tablet and smartphone usage in businesses is increasingly dictated by the users themselves, not the IT Establishment. The BYOD phenomenon has already laid waste to business-focused tablets like Cisco's Cius. Unless Windows 8 tablets generate sufficient consumer interest there's no reason to think that they'll be able to overcome BYOD, either.

It could also be the case that Windows 8 will be installed and deployed on new PCs, while leaving Windows 7 installed on older computers. There are a few reasons why this would be logical (beyond the time that would be saved by leaving older systems alone). First among them: the Trusted Boot feature that most new Windows 8 PCs will use. To get the most out of Trusted Boot you need both UEFI support and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) hardware, and this particular combination of features is currently rare even in high-end business PCs.

The downside to this approach is that you’ll be stuck supporting at least two different Windows versions, though this may not be a huge issue. Windows 7 and Windows 8 are much more similar under-the-hood than Windows XP and Windows 7, and most drivers, programs, and management tools will work the same way across both operating systems. The user interfaces will still be different, but managing and supporting the systems will be much the same.

The most pressing question for many businesses that are in the middle of or have completed Windows 7 rollouts: does Windows 8 offer enough improvements over Windows 7 to merit testing and installation on existing PCs? This will depend in large part on the size and disposition of your environment, but with Windows 9 due in or around 2015 and Windows 7 slated to receive security patches until early 2020, the answer may well be "no."