In an effort to attract business clients to its new Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft announced yesterday at its New Orleans Worldwide Partner Conference, that it would be releasing volume licenses of Windows 7 Enterprise Edition  to business clients on September 1st, 2009.

Microsoft only recently announced that the official public launch date for the OS be October 22nd.

Key features of the Enterprise edition are:

• DirectAccess
  Give mobile users seamless access to corporate networks without a need to VPN.

• BranchCache
  Decrease time branch office users spend waiting to download files across the network.

• Enterprise Search Scopes
  Find information on network locations including SharePoint sites with a simple user interface.

• BitLocker & BitLocker To Go
  Help protect data on PCs and removable drives, with manageability to enforce encryption and backup of recovery keys.

• AppLocker
  Specify what software is allowed to run on user’s PCs through centrally managed, but flexible, Group Policies.

• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Optimisations
  Improved user experience for VDI with multimon and microphone support. Plus the ability to reuse virtual machine (VHD) images to boot a physical PC.

• Multi Lingual User Interface 
• Create a single operating system (OS) image for deployment to users worldwide.