Windows 8 fits on a thumb drive

More than 20 years after its venerable Disk Operating System (DOS) ran off removable media, Microsoft is giving its upcoming Windows 8 operating system the ability to do so once again. The new "Windows to Go" feature in Windows 8 will let IT administrators provide workers with a portable Windows environment on a USB thumb drive, PC World reported. “Windows To Go is a new feature in Windows 8 that enables enterprise administrators to create USB drives containing complete, managed Windows images that users can use to boot and run Windows on any Windows 7 or Windows 8 capable computer," PC World quoted a summary of a session at the BUILD Windows conference in California as saying. It added the “Windows To Go" feature makes it possible for employees to use a "managed device" whether they work from home, a client office or in a free seating environment." But it is not clear for now if the feature is for general or enterprise use only, or if it requires a separate fee. Since Microsoft introduced its Windows operating system, the OS has had to be installed on a computer's hard drive. However, some free utilities had been made that can boot from an optical drive and run a pre-Windows install environment. — TJD, GMA News