2012 was a pretty big year, in terms of mobile and enterprise mobility. Look at just a few of the milestones that spring to mind in a quick mental review of the year’s biggest mobile headlines:

Originally Posted by Lane Jesseph, Tablets at Work Blog

When modern workers move from smartphone to desk phone to IM to email to conferencing—and from desktop to laptop to tablet and back to smartphone again—the conversation can get a bit muddled. But since each medium offers unique capabilities and strengths, none is likely to disappear in the short term. And the BYOD trend—whether contained, discouraged, or cultivated in your organization—surely adds more complexity.

That’s why more enterprises are pursuing unified communication strategies and solutions—ones that can help today’s mobile workers take advantage of all the communication tools available so conversations are enhanced, not fragmented.

Microsoft Lync is one such solution drawing increasing attention from enterprises determined to leverage diverse communication types, not restrict them. Why is this relevant now?

Windows 8 promises to be a departure, in many ways, from the much-loved Windows 7 operating system. There’s wide (though certainly not universal) agreement that consumers will embrace it, for its touch-optimized Metro interface, if nothing else.

There’s much more that’s different in Windows 8, but not every new feature or capability will get pulses racing among enterprise IT professionals. There is, however, more than enough to warrant seriously considering moving your enterprise to Windows 8 sooner rather than later. Here are a few of the most interesting updates:

Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system promises to take mobile technology to a new level and could potentially transform the way students and faculty use their devices and computers both on and off campus. To start, the Windows 8 user interface is a radical departure from the classic Windows aesthetic of the past 25 years, and its expansive touch feature puts Microsoft at the forefront of computing innovation.

Windows 8 will likely enter the IT conversation at your college or university in the near future. Should you supply students with Windows 8 tablets and PCs? Can you support them on campus? How is Windows 7 different from Windows 8?