Windows 8's Portable Workspace: run Windows off a USB device

[Emil]

Windows 8 build 7850, the first leaked Windows 8 build, may be old (it was compiled on September 22, 2010) as it's from Milestone 1, but it actually does contain something we haven't seen before. There are a number of references to a brand new feature in Windows called Portable Workspaces, discovered by users on the My Digital Life forums (via WinRumors).

Here is the full description of the feature, which requires 16GB of space, as seen in the early Windows 8 build:

Portable Workspace Creator
Portable Workspace is a Windows feature that allows you to run Windows from a USB storage device.
To create a Portable Workspace, you need access to Windows 8 Enterprise Edition installation files and a USB storage device with the following features:
The device appears as fixed storage media.
There is sufficient space for a full installation of Windows 8 Enterprise Edition.

Windows enthusiasts have been putting the operating system on USB drives for years, but having Microsoft officially support the feature should ease the process. It appears Microsoft is targeting the feature at business customers and IT professionals who want to use the latest version of Windows on a computer which they do not want to modify.

It's not yet clear exactly how Portable Workspaces work once created. It would be nice if the feature would let you bring your whole workstation with you on your USB drive. The initial setup (putting a fresh installation of Windows 8 on your USB device) would surely take a while, but afterwards syncing what's on your PC should not take very long.

Maybe I'm expecting a little too much from this feature, but I can envision many scenarios in which I would rather take just my 16GB USB stick with me instead of my whole laptop. Once at another computer, I could access all my files and programs as needed. My USB stick is on my keychain anyway, so it never leaves my side, while obviously my laptop is not as convenient to bring along.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/43330-windows-8s-portable-workspace-run-windows-off-a-usb-device.html

 

[yRaz]

I wonder how windows product keys would work. Do you think it would be a feature built in to install it on the jump drive or if you would have to buy a whole other copy?

 

[Trillionsin]

yRaz said:
I wonder how windows product keys would work. Do you think it would be a feature built in to install it on the jump drive or if you would have to buy a whole other copy?

Insteresting, maybe like a "one workspace per license" type of thing?

 

[Trillionsin]

You can do this with linux.. windows seems like it's trying to catch up! hahaha. If this is in fact what I am lead to believe... how would you ever boot on different equipment? or perhaps I am missing the point?

 

[Cota]

trillionsin said:
You can do this with linux.. windows seems like it's trying to catch up! hahaha. If this is in fact what I am lead to believe... how would you ever boot on different equipment? or perhaps I am missing the point?

You could actually do this since windows XP, but it did needed some common scene, wich is lacky on "standard" users.

 

[Guest]

Perhaps it's more likely that this will work like a roaming profile, and only on machines running Windows 8? So it's not the actual installation you're carrying, just your data, programs and registry...

I may be talking outta my @ss though...

 

[Kibaruk]

Portable Workspace and Portable Windows seems like 2 totally different things, so yes Guest you might not be talking out of your @ss. Specially if it is aimed at enterprise users one can asume that it is that "taking your WORKSPACE" and use it on another machine probably working with windows 8.

 

[bakape]

trillionsin said:
You can do this with linux.. windows seems like it's trying to catch up! hahaha. If this is in fact what I am lead to believe... how would you ever boot on different equipment? or perhaps I am missing the point?

This doesn't appear to be a squash.fs -like implementation, so don't expect to use it on flash sticks or anything which pays attention to write cycles. No live boot for Windows.
As for external HDDs, Linux did it first, MS's proprietary organ did not want.

 

[Greg S]

I think that by "workspace" it means you keep all of your settings (theme, views, etc.) programs, and system files that are not included in the original install of windows (drivers, dll, changed/new registry entries). This means that it will not work without a copy of windows 8 installed on the machine you are using, but it is basically like your own copy of windows 8. It keeps licensing under control by making sure you have a copy of windows 8 yourself (or at least the computer you are using does) and would allow anyone to use any windows 8 computer as if it were your own.

 

[Lokalaskurar]

Win7Dev said:
I think that by "workspace" it means you keep all of your settings (theme, views, etc.) programs, and system files that are not included in the original install of windows (drivers, dll, changed/new registry entries). This means that it will not work without a copy of windows 8 installed on the machine you are using, but it is basically like your own copy of windows 8. It keeps licensing under control by making sure you have a copy of windows 8 yourself (or at least the computer you are using does) and would allow anyone to use any windows 8 computer as if it were your own.

This does actually sound like the most plausible explanation. From what I've heard, simple USB-drives lack an internal registry. Meaning that installing full programs on them will be impossible unless a USB-drive with a registry comes along. I don't even know if it's even possible to "fake" a registry on non-registry USB-drives...

If it would simply save the settings, like all examples already mentioned, then it's basically avoiding any jurisdictional trouble. Thus Win7Dev's idea that the machine basically turns into your own Win. when inserting a "workplace" drive, seems to be the most plausible.

 

[Guest]

I made a video demoing this portable workspaces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDb9JCv3NlA