Four things you'll love about Windows 8
By DWIGHT SILVERMAN, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 10:34 p.m., Monday, September 19, 2011
1. Improved search
2. Syncing PCs
3.
WindowsToGo. Suppose you could sit down at any Windows PC and have it boot up as your PC - with your settings, wallpaper, bookmarks and even your favorite software programs. WindowsToGo makes this possible by putting a complete copy of the operating system on a USB flash drive.
It works like this: Plug a souped-up flash drive into a USB 2.0 or, preferably, 3.0 connection and reboot. If it's a Windows 8 PC configured properly, it will boot from the external drive that's set up to look like the system you normally use. When you're done, just shut down Windows and unplug the drive - there will be no trace of your presence on the hard drive, as all documents and other files stay on the USB drive.
4.
Refresh your PC. Many Windows users think it's a good idea to periodically refresh their PCs by reinstalling the operating system. This can be a real pain, because it involves also backing up and restoring all your documents, then reinstalling your applications.
In Windows 8, you'll be able to reinstall the operating system, but doing so won't nuke your programs and files, which will be backed up by Microsoft's cloud service. But if you want to do a full "wipe," you can set the PC up as it was when you first brought it home. This takes just a few minutes, and I used it when I returned the loaner tablet to Microsoft.