Microsoft Shows Off ‘Windows To Go’ USB Stick, Runs Windows 8 On Older Windows 7 PCs

Here’s a rather interesting idea, and one that we honestly can’t decide whether we would say is a good one, or a bad one. We’ll take the length of this post to decide.

Microsoft has today shown off a handy little USB stick which could potentially make itself indispensable to businesses and home computer owners alike, especially if they use more than one Windows machine on a daily basis.

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During the company’s Digital Worldwide Partner Conference today, Microsoft took the wraps off a USB stick which it believes will make it easier for Windows users to almost take their PC with them, meaning they can have all their documents and apps follow them around via the wonders of USB – assuming they all amount to less than 32GB of data, that is.

Called ‘Windows to Go’ by the Redmond outfit, this little USB stick will make it possible for users to take their customized version of Windows wherever they go, meaning they can use multiple computers without ever having to worry about apps, or indeed documents not being there when they need them. It’s an interesting idea, and one we would very much like to see working in the flesh. If it works how Microsoft believes, then we could be onto something really special.

But we’ve not told you about Windows to Go’s party trick yet, have we?

According to BGR, Windows to Go will work on any computer that currently runs Windows 7 or above. That’s right, Windows 7. Apparently, and again, we haven’t seen this ourselves, Windows to Go will basically give users their Windows 8 experience on a computer with Windows 7 installed. It sounds like voodoo magic to us, but we’re willing to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt, is only because it sounds too awesome to discount at this stage.

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Imagine, if you will, being able to take your home computer with you into work, and vice versa. Granted, you’d probably need a friendly IT department at said work, but apparently they do exist. So we’re told. We think it may be folklore.

Yup, we’ve decided. It’s a good idea!

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