February 04, 2013, 4:07 PM — Imation's IronKey division has released a USB 3.0 flash drive from which users can directly boot up Windows 8. Aimed at businesses, the IronKey Workspace USB drive allows employees to telework from home, consultants and others to work in multiple locations, and field personnel to access their corporate desktops from virtually any PC.
IronKey's new USB is certified to use Windows To Go -- an enterprise feature of Windows 8 -- to deliver a fully portable desktop. Windows To Go can be booted up from a USB-connected external drive on PCs that meet the Windows 7 or Windows 8 certification requirements, regardless of the operating system running on the PC. While Imation doesn't promote this feature, users can also boot up this USB on any Intel-based Apple computer.
The Imation IronKey Workspace USB flash drive
A cool feature of Windows To Go is that it suspends the session when the USB device is removed from the host computer. Plug it back in and you can pick up where you left off, and no data is lost.
The IronKey Workspace drive comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. It offers either 128-bit or 256-bit full disk encryption. Users must purchase the Windows 8 software separately.
Nothing new
Bootable USB drives are nothing new. Kingston's DataTraveler Locker, Corsair's Flash Padlock 2 and even Imation's own Stealth Zone allow users to boot up from flash into a secure Windows 7 workspace. And you've always been able to install Windows onto some flash drives to boot up. The flash drive's firmware needs to identify itself as a bootable drive -- most don't, but some do.
