Executive Summary

Contributing Analysts: Michael Cherry, Don Retallack, and Rob Sanfilippo

Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 became available in Oct. 2013, alongside Windows Server 2012 R2. These are the first of what promise to be more rapid updates to the Windows client OS. The update is available for the Windows client OS (Windows 8.1) and the Windows OS for the ARM architecture (Windows RT 8.1), and eventually, Windows Phone.

The update includes new features and fixes or significantly improves existing features. Although much has been made of changes to the Modern user interface, including the ability to boot directly into the Windows desktop rather than the Start screen, changes of most interest to organizations focus on scenarios where an employee is using a non-organization-owned or -managed device or application to perform company work and the synchronization of user data and configuration settings across Windows client, phone, and server OSs.

Although the Start screen may prove contentious in some environments before users become acclimated to it or migrate to touch-enabled devices, there are substantial changes to the client OS that should make it a better platform for an organization’s IT infrastructure. Organizations need to understand the new features and changes in the OS, particularly if they are investigating Windows Server 2012 R2, which enables several new security and file-sharing features of the client OSs.