BRAVO TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Windows 8 Editions by Sam C. Chan

Last Updated: May 25, 2013    Addendum added: Oct 30, 2014

Features Windows RT Windows 8* Windows 8 Pro Windows 8 Enterprise
Maximum physical memory

ARM limit

4 / 128 GB

4** GB (x86) / 512 GB (x64)

Instant start (hybrid shutdown) Features common to
ALL editions of
Windows 8
UEFI secure boot
GPT > 2 TB boot partition
Picture password
Start Screen + Live Tiles + Snap
Windows Store Sandboxed apps
Semantic Zoom
Touch & Thumb keyboard
Ribbonized File Explorer &
file transfer management
File History
Refresh and Reset of OS
"Play To" devices
Connected standby
Better multi-monitor support
New Windows Task Manager
ISO image and VHD mounting
Mobile broadband features
Microsoft account integration
2x IE10: modern & desktop
SmartScreen (file checker)
Xbox Live (incl. Arcade)
Exchange ActiveSync (EAS)
VPN client
Traditional Desktop Very Limited
Executables Supported Store
apps only
Windows Store + desktop apps (x86/x64)
Remote Desktop (RDP) Client only Client only Client & host Client & host
Storage Spaces software-defined storage  
Windows Media Player  
Windows Media Center   n/a!! req. Pro Pack n/a
Microsoft Office bundled      
Encryption features Device encryption n/a BitLocker and EFS
Boot from VHD    
Domain join    
Local Group Policy (GPedit.msc)    
Hyper-V     x64 only, req. SLAT CPU & mb
VirtualPC is no longer supported in all editions
Offline Files    
Sideload in-house modern apps Partial n/a req. Enterprise Sideloading key
AppLocker      
Windows To Go      
DirectAccess      
BranchCache      
virtualized by RemoteFX      
Services for NFS      

*the moniker "home premium/basic edition" has been drop. It's now simply known as Windows 8--AKA Windows 8 Core (unofficial) in some tech circles.

**In reality, 4 GB limit really means something close to 3.1 GB due to the upper gigabyte region being allocated to ROM and other I/O purposes.

 


Addendum  Oct 30, 2014 + minor refresh Nov 21, 2015
  Intel Platforms: x86 and x64 Microsoft Surface
or other ARM
Phone
WinVer "Home" Edition Professional Edition RT Windows Phone
6.2 Windows 8 Windows 8 Pro
8 Pro Pack
Windows RT Windows Phone 8
6.3
("Blue")
Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Pro
8.1 Pro Pack
Windows RT 8.1 Windows Phone 8.1
soon-to-be released
6.4 Windows 10 beta (until Nov 2014) n/a
10.0 Windows 10 beta, renamed version


  Windows RT on ARM Windows 8 Pro on Intel CPU
Original Surface RT Surface Pro
2nd Generation Surface 2 Surface Pro 2
3rd Generation Surface 3 Surface Pro 3

 

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