What are Windows 8 features that IT managers should consider to migrate to Windows 8 systems?

Here are eight Windows 8 features may compel IT managers to migrate sooner rather than later to Windows 8 systems:

1. Laptop power plus tablet convenience - Windows 8 is designed to rival the Apple iPad and Android tablets. Right now, Windows is nonexistent on tablets, while iOS dominates with 68 percent market share, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Android-based tablet devices have around 29 percent of the tablet market.

2. Office, evolved - Microsoft’s new set of Office 365 Web apps lets users create, edit and share documents online, giving business users a built-in architecture for managing and editing documents through the Web.

3. Better virus protection and security - The new Defender provides only basic anti-virus defense, but will likely save IT managers or small business owners the time to pay for and install third-party virus protection from McAfee or Norton. Plus, when paired with Windows 8’s new SmartScreen technology for verifying downloads against a list of reputable files, viruses and other malware are sure to have a harder time cracking IT-deployed devices.

4. Improved performance and smarter backups - Windows 8 not only launches much faster than its Windows 7 forebear, it uses a new boot-up bridge called the Unified Extensible Interface (UEFI) to access graphical drivers before the operating system is fully active. Earlier access to visual graphics helps replace old-school boot visuals with a more interesting — and shorter — sequence of visual cues.

5. More efficient wireless connection management - When it comes to wireless connections, Windows 8 is vastly improved. First, the new Wi-Fi manager is smarter and faster. Rather than simply search out the nearest Wi-Fi network, the manager measures each signal’s throughput and chooses the source with the strongest bandwidth instead.

6. Exchange ActiveSync built-in - Email accounts are a cinch to set up on Windows 8 PCs. That’s because for the first time ever, Outlook 2013 has built-in support for Exchange ActiveSync, the email solution that makes it very simple to connect email accounts to Android, iOS or Windows Phone devices.

7. Windows to Go makes Windows 8 plug-and-play on any PC - Imagine how happy business travelers would be if they could carry a Windows PC in their pocket instead of their laptop bag. Windows to Go, available only in Windows 8 Enterprise, allows just that by putting all the power of Windows 8 on a USB key, allowing users to plug into any Windows 7 or Windows 8 machine to access their system. The bootable OS image includes support for any apps added to the image by support staff.

8. Better Support for Virtualized systems and remote desktop support - For Windows 8, Microsoft offers multiple virtualization options, including a tool to use Windows XP as a virtual OS on a Windows 8 machine. The PC-within-a-PC tool is useful in other ways as well.