John Brandon of Computerworld has put together a list of 13 less-discussed features about Windows 8 that he considers worth knowing about and wrote in detail about each feature here. I think it's a pretty impressive roundup and have put up a summarized version for those who prefer the lowdown.

Reading Brandon's list did get me thinking about what really excites me about the next version of the Windows operating system. Out of the entire list, I think I'm particularly excited about the fast boot-up time of Windows 8, as well as its support for the ARM processor.

I interact with students in an educational institution on an almost daily basis, and it never fails to amaze me how long a simple task such as booting up their laptops can take. I'm experiencing 20-second boot-up with my fast SSD-equipped laptop; I think Windows 8 will radically change things by bringing this into the mainstream.

Despite Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) best efforts with its Atom processors, there is no question that ARM has the crown in terms of power efficiency. Having a version of Windows 8 that runs on the ARM platform may just be the magic bullet needed to make 10+ hours of computing a reality.

In a nutshell, I think that having a fast boot-up time and support for the more energy-efficient ARM processor will resolve two perennial bugbears of the Windows operating system and serve to radically improve users' experiences. What say you? What are you anticipating the most in Windows 8? - Paul Mah  (Twitter @paulmah)