Windows on a stick: hands-on with Windows 8's "Windows to Go"

But Windows 8 does offer a “mobile” alternative that may at least pique business and tech support users' curiosity: Windows to Go, an installation of Windows 8 that boots from a USB thumb drive. In theory, Windows to Go could give administrators a way of creating a verified, locked-down image of the Windows 8 OS that can be given to wandering users, temporary off-site contractors, or telecommuters to allow them to connect to the corporate network with confidence from their own (or someone else's) computer.

Windows to Go could also be attractive to desktop support teams—or anyone else who ever gets drafted into fixing a friend's or relative's computer. While it doesn't access local storage at start-up, local drives can be mounted and accessed so they can be repaired, or scrubbed of boot-sector viruses and other nastiness on the host computer.

via arstechnica.com