Paul Thurrott - Windows 8 Secrets

So that works. But you could also simply choose to use HomeGroup sharing instead of the Network explorer. (That is, you will access shared resources via the homegroup and not through the Network interface.) This method requires that all of your home machines are running Windows 7, Windows 8 (or, interestingly, Windows Home Server 2011). So if you are using an older Windows version (Vista, XP) on your home network, this method won’t work.

Long story short, you should use your homegroup for all home network-based sharing activities when possible: It’s simpler, more powerful, and it’s automatic. But if you are still using older Windows PCs on your network, Network explorer will make their shared resources available to you as well… as long you know the credentials.

Windows 8 offers all of the power and flexibility of the networking and connectivity services offered in its predecessor, but improves on matters enormously with new Metro-style interfaces that work across the OS, and features new capabilities that make this version of Windows the best yet from a connectivity standpoint.

Key among these new capabilities is the native support for cellular data connections, which achieves first-class status in Windows 8 alongside wired and wireless (Wi-Fi) networking types. If anything, cellular data support is superior to those older types of networking, thanks to intelligent integration with your wireless carrier’s metered and costly data plans. It’s even more powerful than the cellular support in most smartphones.

Windows 8 also expands on the HomeGroup sharing functionality from Windows 7, by adding a new Metro-style interface. And HomeGroup-style sharing is more important than ever because of the prevalence of Microsoft account sign-ins, which makes old-school sharing schemes a bit more difficult. But if you do need to access the network resources of a PC running an older Windows PC, too, the hidden Windows Credentials feature will make that happen.

• Joining a domain with Windows 8

• Enabling EFS to protect files and folders

• Using BitLocker and BitLocker To Go to protect entire disks

• Using Client Hyper-V to install virtual environments

• Managing your virtual resources with Hyper-V Manager

• Accessing virtual machines with Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection

• Integrating virtual hard disks with the Windows shell

• Using Remote Desktop, Remote Desktop Connection, and Remote Desktop Host

• Understanding which features are unique to Windows 8 Enterprise

• Understanding how consumer-oriented Windows RT tablets can be used in corporate settings securely

Let there be no doubt: Windows 8 is quite definitely a consumer-focused release of Windows, the first since perhaps Windows Me to cater almost exclusively to that part of the market. This is understandable, given the rapid rise of competing consumer technologies from companies like Apple and the rapid adoption of those technologies, even in businesses. This trend, called the consumerization of IT, has revolutionized many aspects of technology used in business, including areas that were once sacrosanct. And it’s led to a loosening of the reigns, so to speak, as the workforce has evolved to engage in computing activities away from the office.

Microsoft has embraced this trend with its client and server products and cloud services, and while Windows 8 may seem a bit light on the business technology side, this needs to be viewed in perspective. First, as a superset of Windows 7, Windows 8 does

include all of the business-oriented features and functionality that graced that product, often in upgraded or enhanced form. That means that it shares the same basic deployment tools, manageability, and other back-end technologies, as well as its general feature set.

But Windows 8 also includes some new business-oriented technologies of its own. And while consumers are having fun with the Metro-style experiences that dominate this product, what you’re about to discover is this version of Windows also offers a compelling upgrade case for businesses, too.

Windows 8 isn’t just about Metro. There are numerous updates to the desktop environment, which we discuss in Chapter 4, plus a new desktop version of Internet Explorer, amazing new file and system recovery tools ( Chapter 11) and network and connectivity capabilities ( Chapter 13). Metro is fun, and beautiful to look at. But Windows 8 is a productivity champion, too. It’s in the product’s DNA.

Most of the features described in this chapter require Windows 8 Pro, the business- and enthusiast-focused version of Microsoft’s latest operating system. Some require Windows 8 Enterprise, which is only available via Microsoft’s volume licensing program, Software Assurance. Those features that also work with the base version of Windows 8 will be noted as such.

When you think about it, traditional home-based Windows PCs are unmanaged in the sense that there’s no central oversight available, either by the head of a household or a central server. This type of computing, which has been formally described as workgroup computing makes a certain amount of sense at home, where each PC is an island of functionality onto itself. In the workplace, however, especially at mid-sized businesses and enterprises where there can be hundreds or thousands of PCs, the go-your-own route doesn’t actually make any sense. Corporations need a central way to manage users, PCs, devices, and other entities, and ways to secure and update their computing products. They need what’s called a managed solution.

The most popular managed solution for businesses is called Active Directory, or AD. It requires a centralized Windows Server infrastructure and uses Group Policy to establish rules for its computing services. While AD and Group Policy haven’t made a lot of headway with smaller businesses—though that could change with the adoption of these services in cloud-based solutions like Windows Azure, Office 365, and Windows Intune—it’s the standard at larger businesses. And chances are, if you’re provided with a PC at work, you’ll be required to sign in to your AD domain, not just to the PC using a local account or Microsoft account. Domain joined computers are controlled via policy, so they can be very restrictive, especially for such things as application installation and certain system customizations. But they’re also typically better locked down from a security standpoint and, when configured properly, allow you to access your company’s secure network resources, even while working remotely.

Domain join works in Windows 8 as it did in previous Windows versions. If your Windows 8 PC hasn’t been pre-configured with your user account, you can sign in to the domain in two ways: from the lock screen or through the Advanced System Properties control panel.

To sign in to your domain from the lock screen, select Other user. Then, in the screen shown in Figure 14-1, you must provide your domain, username, and password credentials.

Figure 14-1:Signing in to a domain from the Windows 8 lock screen

This sign-in must take a specific form, like domain\username or username@domain , in the username field. (Your employer will provide the domain name.) Assuming the domain name is mydomain.com and the username is paul , the username would then be mydomain\paul or paul@mydomain.com .