There are only two real editions of Windows 7 and 8 that you can run in your organization: Professional and Enterprise. After all, it is pretty hard to manage a machine that can’t join the domain! You would think that the choice would be easy right? Just load Professional, miss out on a few features that “no one uses” and go on with your day. Thinking that would be a mistake! So why choose Windows Enterprise? Here are 3 reasons:
Enterprise Means No More Viruses
AppLocker, available in Windows 7 and Windows 8, is the best addition to Windows since User Account Control! AppLocker, essentially Software Restriction Policies on steroids, allows you to globally whitelist or blacklist applications based on signatures, paths, or file hash’s.
In our environment, we use AppLocker to only allow programs to run if they exist in Windows or Program Files. Because only administrators can write to these locations and 99% of software runs from these locations, viruses/malware can’t be installed or ran by standard users. Further, users can’t bring in applications on their thumb drives or download stand alone applications like Firefox or Chrome. Because of this, we were able to cut our expensive anti-virus solution and purchase System Center with the extra money!
If you don’t believe me, read what Greg Shield (MVP and writer for TechNet) said about AppLocker.