Updated: July 15, 2020 (June 2, 2014)

Comparing Business Features in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

Wes Miller analyzes and writes about Microsoft’s security, identity management, and systems management technologies. Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Wes... more

Many Windows 8.1 features likely to be of interest to organizations are available on Windows 7. To decide on a standard version, organizations should compare features such as multitouch and support for Modern (Windows Store) applications, as well as support retirement schedules and the rhythm that Microsoft intends to follow when updating each OS version. Some features require Windows Server 2012 R2, while others require that version of the server OS if organizations want to centrally manage the features on clients with Windows Group Policy.

Feature	Description	Available in Windows 7	Available in Windows 8.1	Requires Windows Server 2012 R2
Workplace Join	Administrators can grant access to corporate resources and enforce some corporate policy compliance for computers not joined to a Windows domain.	Yes	Yes	Yes
Work Folders	Applications can synchronize files between corporate-managed servers and mobile devices over the Internet.

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