Free deployment tools for Windows Vista
Microsoft Corporation has released a virtual pack of
six new deployment tools which will help the computer
to speed up the migration to Windows Vista. The tools
are,
- Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop
Deployment 2007,
- Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0,
- Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0,
- Volume Activation Management tool,
- Key Management Service for Windows 2003 Server
and
- Virtual PC 2007.
Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment
The Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment
(BDD 2007) is a set of comprehensive tools that can
assist in deploying Windows Vista and also the MS-Office
2007 in to the desktop computers. The BDD includes single
image deployment capabilities, user state migration
tools, remote deployment tools, and can integrate with
Microsoft deployment products, like System Management
Server 2003. BDD 2007 combines many deployment tools
for achieving comprehensive and intelligent deployment
solutions. Further more, the solution Accelerator provides
tools which help IT professionals to,
- Enable creation of software and hardware solutions
to assist in deployment planning.
- Enable one to setup a lab experiment environment
which includes deployment and imaging servers.
- Allows one to handle customized and packaged applications.
- Enables one to automate the process of desktop image
creation and deployment.
- Enables the desktop to be hardened, for improving
security within the deployment process or the deployment
environment.
- Enables one to manage various processes and technologies
to produce a integrated deployment.
- Enables one to test applications for compatibility
and try to solve the compatibility issues which are
found during the process.
BDD 2007 integrates many of the deployment tools such
as ACT 5.0, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment and the
Volume Activation 2.0 to make up a comprehensive, powerful
tool for migrating to Windows Vista. A free download
of BDD 2007 can be obtained from http://www.microsoft.com/desktopdeployment.
Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0
The Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 is a tool
which helps to reduce the cost and time needed for resolving
the application compatibility issues which one may come
across while moving to vista. It has got a series of
compatibility evaluators and tools which enable the
software developers, software vendors and IT professionals
to determine whether the applications which are used
in older version of windows are compatible with the
new Windows Vista, even before they can deploy Vista
in their organization. The tool also enables one to
predetermine the compatibility issues and keeps track
of compatibility information through application’s
entire life cycle. Added to it, one can,
- Analyze the applications, website and computers
for their compatibility problems.
- Evaluate the operating system deployments which
can cause problems with the system updates. Evaluate
the compatibility of web sites.
- Perform centralized management of compatibility
evaluator tools and their configuration settings.
- Perform filtered reporting along with prioritizing
application compatibility efforts.
- Organize applications, web sites and computers in
a well defined manner.
- Manage issues and solutions for organizational computing
environment.
- Send and receive compatibility information for any
problems from Microsoft Compatibility Exchange.
One can download the Application Compatibility Toolkit
5.0 at the location, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905102.aspx.
Windows Hardware Assessment Tool 1.0
Now, we move our discussion towards, the Windows Hardware
Assessment Tool 1.0. This tool enables one to make stronger
and informed decision to upgrade the PC’s from
the existing operating systems to Windows Vista. It
also helps to get the list of resources to complete
the process of migration and upgrade. This network oriented
tool quickly gathers information about all PC’s
in the network without installing any software component
locally in each computer, assesses their hardware and
software compatibility with Windows Vista and automatically
generates a report that contains upgrade recommendations
for each PC.
The tool performs three main functions which enable
one to get a report which contains the upgrade recommendations.
They are,
- Secured and agent less inventory,
- Comprehensive Analysis for both hardware and software,
- Reporting.
The secured and agent less inventory function will
scan the computers on the network to study their hardware
and software components in detail. It can only scan
the computers on a network, running an operating system
supporting the Windows Management Instrumentation. The
supported operating systems are,
- Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Professional.
- Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2,
- Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2,
- The already migrated Windows Vista itself.
The Comprehensive Analysis for hardware and software
determines which of the computers are ready for migration
after hardware upgrades. The tool identifies and recommends
the required upgrades. One problem with this function
is that the tool will not recommend upgrades required
for CPU etc. The analysis also helps to identify devices
with device drivers in the Windows Vista installation
DVD, which device drivers are to be downloaded from
the Windows Update on Microsoft, and also which devices
require contacting manufacturers for providing drivers.
The Reporting function is associated with generation
of reports. It includes both high level and detailed
assessment results. The report will be provided in Microsoft
Excel Workbook and in a Microsoft Word document. The
reports usually provide a level of details needed by
IT implementer, as well as, the details needed by the
business decision makers. One can download the Windows
Hardware Assessment tool at, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/wvha.
Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0
The next tool is the Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0.
As the word itself indicates, Microsoft has added several
options which customers can make use of to activate
multiple Windows Vista based PC’s. The owner of
the activation process must purchase licensees from
multiple license schemes which are available at Microsoft,
before activating computers using the purchased multiple
licenses in the desktop environment.
The Volume Activation Management Tool helps customers
to automate and manage activation process using a Multiple
Activation Key. This process requires one time data
online communication from Microsoft. One can download
the Volume Activation Management Tool from Microsoft
Download Center at, http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=77533.
The Key Management Service is another kind of activation
process which enables to host local services within
given environment which is used during the Windows Vista
activation process without sending information to Microsoft.
The Key Management Service meant especially for Windows
Server 2003, can be obtained from Microsoft Download
Center at, http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=82964.
Virtual PC 2007
Among the list, the last tool is the Virtual PC 2007.
The Virtual PC 2007 has been optimized for Windows Vista.
It is a tool which allows running simultaneously multiple
operating systems on a single computer. You can run
other operating systems in Windows Vista using the Virtual
PC 2007. Windows Vista becomes host operating system,
and the operating system which runs through the host
becomes the guest operating system. The computer must
have memory capacity of amount required to run host
operating system plus the amount required to run guest
operating system. Similarly, one must provide enough
amount of free disk space to store files related to
both host and the guest operating systems. The virtual
PC 2007 can be used in the following scenarios. They
are,
- Lessen the intensity of migration: Run old, outdated
applications in the virtual environment. This enables
one to install Windows Vista, though there are problems
with some hardware components, such as incompatible
drivers, etc. We can test the migration plans using
virtual computers instead of actual physical computers.
- Perform maximum in less time: With Virtual PC, one
can run multiple operating systems on a single computer
and switch between them easily. This benefits the
trainers, educational institutions, computer labs
by setting up virtual networks. They often get situation
to run multiple operating systems in one computer.
- Make Deployment easier and faster: One can test
newly developed softwares on different operating systems.
Any crash in the operating system or in the software,
will not affect the other softwares installed in the
system.
- Accelerate the development process: Increase the
speed of testing and documenting softwares on multiple
operating systems, by using the virtual machines.
This helps faster development and deployment activity.
Virtual PC 2007 includes several new enhancements
with it. These are, improved performance, hardware virtualization,
pre-boot execution environment and subsequently support
for 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. It also provides
good, intelligent, and highly reliable environment for
software development and testing. It also provides environment
for staff training. One can get the free download of
the virtual PC 2007 from,
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc.
Microsoft has provided the above tools for deploying
Windows Vista. Some tools enable one to test the migration
process of Windows Vista. Some of them enable the migration
process. Time will decide which of these tools popularly
used ones are. |
