Windows 7 boasts several new features that could make PCs easier to manage and secure for IT departments. They include:

BitLocker To Go

Government departments pay attention: Microsoft is expanding the BitLocker drive encryption found in business and Ultimate versions of Vista to include USB flash drives. “The problem with these little buggers is people lose them,” said the unusually frank Boettcher.

IT departments can set a group policy that forces USB drives to be encrypted before the employee’s allowed to copy files off the corporate network on to the stick, saving IT departments from employing more drastic measures, such as disabling USB ports.

Alternatively, employees can easily encrypt their own drives with the Bitlocker Drive Encryption option in Windows 7’s System and Security settings. Remembering the password might be a stiffer challenge, however.

Direct Access

This feature gives employees access to data stored on the corporate network when they’re out of the office, without having to tunnel through a VPN. “It means I’m always on the corporate network, wherever I am,” said Shane Boettcher, general manager of product management in the Windows client division. “It uses IPSec to provide a secure connection to the corporate intranet.”

There is a catch, however: companies must have deployed Windows Server 2008 R2 and implemented IPv6 and IPSec before employees will be able to use this feature.

Branch Cache

With the vast majority of employees not working at head office in most organisations, Branch Cache makes it easier for staff in remote offices to access company files. Once one person in the branch office has downloaded a file, a copy of it is cached locally, so that workers subsequently trying to download the same file don’t have to wait as long. This is particular useful for outlying offices with modest internet connections, but once again relies on Server 2008 R2.

Problem Steps Recorder

“Some organisations want helpdesk folk to stay in their seats,” claimed Boettcher, which is why Microsoft has developed the Problem Steps Recorder. With this facility, employees can set their PC to record step-by-step screengrabs of the procedures they go through when experiencing a technical problem, such as a botched installation or faulty driver. These are then forwarded to the IT department, along with a batch of telemetry from the user’s PC, to help the helpdesk remotely diagnose the problem.

App Locker

IT departments now have the power to not only determine which applications an employee can have on their PC, but which version of the application. IT departments could, for example, allow users to install Flash Player 9, but block version 10 until they’ve completed sufficient testing. Equally, they could block access to older, insecure versions of software packages that employees may have taken it upon themselves to install.