Free Downloads to Deploy and Manage Windows Vista


Posted by Alex Heaton on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 6:11 PM 12 Comments
One of the things we've done differently with the release of Windows Vista is made it a priority to provide IT professionals with the tools and guidance they need to successfully deploy the new desktop OS as easily, quickly, and with as little cost as possible. Today we are happy to announce that the full set of tools we've created for business to deploy Windows Vista are available for free download. Many businesses have been using beta versions of these tools, and now they are all ready for production use:

Here's the full set of tools that we've made available, including the new ones that have just been released today:

  • Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007
    BDD 2007 is a set of comprehensive guidance, best practices, and tools that organizations can use to deploy Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system to desktops. Download it here. Part of what BDD includes are two solutions to streamline deployments-a zero-touch solution which requires Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 and a light-touch solution that does not. Since Manu announced BDD on the blog on January 17th, we've already seen more than 60,000 downloads.

    If you only download one tool from this list, this is the one to get because it provides access to most of the other tools as well. To download other tools from inside BDD, click on Components in the Information Center section in the left-pane. This will bring up the current list of available components. Click 'Check for updates' on the right-pane to download an updated BDD component list from Microsoft.

  • Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0
    ACT 5.0 is a tool that helps businesses reduce the cost and time needed to resolve potential application compatibility issues encountered when moving to Windows Vista. Download it here. Since Peg announced ACT on the blog on January 30th, we've already seen more than 30,000 downloads. Even if you are still considering when to deploy to Windows Vista, downloading and running ACT on your current PCs is an easy step you can take to start understanding how many applications you will need to migrate and get some data on potential compatibility issues so that you can address them as soon as possible.

  • Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0
    This is a brand new tool we are announcing today. With this tool, customers and IT consultants will be able to quickly determine the readiness of existing PCs to run Windows Vista and provide guidance on any necessary hardware and device driver updates. The beauty of this tool is that in can be run on a single PC by an IT admin and get an inventory and readiness assessment of all PCs on the network (up to 5,000). Download it here and read this in-depth post from Hardware Assesment product manager Baldwin Ng.

    Don't forget, if you want to tell if just one or a few PCs are compatible with Windows Vista, use the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, also a free download.

  • Virtual PC 2007
    Released today, the latest Microsoft hardware virtualization software includes support for hardware-assisted virtualization technology and support for Windows Vista as a host or guest operating system or both. The ability to use Virtual PC 2007 to run up to 4 additional copies of Windows is one of the benefits of Windows Vista Enterprise. Download Virtual PC 2007 here and see our prior post on how to use it.

  • Volume Activation 2.0 Tools
    Volume Activation 2.0 is a technology in Windows Vista that requires activation of each Windows Vista license acquired under a Volume License agreement. Based on customer feedback during the beta process, we have added several new tools to give customers more options for how they want to manage the activation process. The new tools we have released are:
    • Windows Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) Multiple Activation Key (MAK) activation requires a one-time communication with Microsoft either independently by each computer, or VAMT can proxy the communication on behalf of multiple computers at once-so that only one needs to access the internet and perform the one-time communication with Microsoft's servers.
    •  Key Management Service (KMS) for Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Later KMS enables business customers to host a local service within their environment that can be used to activate Windows Vista without sending information to Microsoft. We created this tool based on feedback from beta customers that wanted to host the KMS service on Windows Server 2003, in addition to the Windows Vista service that was previously available.
    • KMS Management Pack for Management Operations Manager 2005 This tool allows enterprise customers to monitor and report the health of the KMS host that is fulfilling the activation requests within their organization. System administrators can also create alerts for conditions that could indicate KMS outages or impending problems-to help ensure that the activation process happens seamlessly.

If you've already been deploying or piloting Windows Vista you'll think these are very cool tools (trust me). If not, you are probably scratching your head about what MAK and KMS mean. If you want to learn more about volume activation, I encourage you to check out these resources: Volume Activation Licensing Overview and Volume Activation Technical Guidance.

  • PowerShell 1.0
    Another tool that we've blogged about was Windows PowerShell, the new command line shell and scripting language. When we first blogged here about PowerShell, it was in beta, but now the final version of PowerShell is available as well. Download PowerShell 1.0 here and also see this post for tips for how to use it to automate tasks in Windows Vista.

What having all of these tools available means is that all of the customers who have been testing beta versions can now begin production deployments.  If you have not been actively testing or piloting Windows Vista yet, these tools provide a structured way to get started.

This was the first of many posts we plan to bring you over the next few months on how to plan for and deploy Windows Vista in your organization. Please let us know if there are any topics that you'd like us to cover.

- Alex Heaton

FEB 21
 

Posted by The Wow

Microsoft this week has released a series of downloads designed to help deploy and manage Windows Vista
FEB 22
 

Posted by Om Windows Vista og annen teknisk moro

Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment 2007 Denne har jeg egne poster om, dette er den
MAR 05
 

Posted by technoverma

Hi there,

donot know should i Posted it here or not, but let me do!!!

I've bought Dell laptop with Vista home basic and I've MSDN subscriton Subscription I want to upgrade it to Premium since, i donot want to unstall the basic one I just want to upgrade it.

can you suggest me to something do do i go about it
MAR 12
 

Posted by Chuckrf

You are taking care of the professionals, but what about us home users. I am waiting for my upgrade to Vista Premium to arrive. Thought I would read up on what to expect when I install it. You have a document on line, "Introduction to Microsoft Windows Vista". It comes up on Adobe reader, but will not allow us to print it. I would like to have it available to refer to as I start using Vista. Software companies have stopped supplying user manuals. Now they don't even want us to be able to print them.
MAR 12
 

Posted by Chuckrf

You are taking care of the professionals, but what about us home users. I am waiting for my upgrade to Vista Premium to arrive. Thought I would read up on what to expect when I install it. You have a document on line, "Introduction to Microsoft Windows Vista". It comes up on Adobe reader, but will not allow us to print it. I would like to have it available to refer to as I start using Vista. Software companies have stopped supplying user manuals. Now they don't even want us to be able to print them.
MAR 23
 

Posted by Tim01

HP replaced my a1700n mediacenter/Home premiun with a a1710n/Home premium,now I'm told that there's no way,no how that I can transfer files/folders/contacts from vista to vista. Any suggestions?
MAR 26
 

Posted by DaveField

Tim01,

Have you tried the Easy Transfer Wizard? You can use it with an external hard disk or a Easy Transfer cable (available from many online stores) to transfer your files, settings, etc. from one system to another.

If you need to create a repeatable transfer, you can use the User State Migration Tool (USMT) to transfer files and settings as well.

MAR 28
 

Posted by dazed_and_confused

Ease of deployment?  I'm your stereo-typical user with limited but slightly dangerous knoweldge of windows.  Our firm had to purchase Vista machines for our office because it seems that was the only thing we could get our hands on, due to the mass preloading of it.  Vista has been a nightmare for our firm.  It conflicts with everything.  It won't talk to our MS SBS2003 effectively (that's costing me a ton in tech support), it won't work with our real estate software (desktop or online), we can't get it to recognize our network printers, it has effectively shut down our ability to RDC or VPN to our servers, and the silly firewall incessant authorizaion notifier thing is enormously annoying.  I have been a huge Windows fan for many years, but this stupid software has cost me thousands of dollars in lost time and technology support fees, and they still can't figure it out, just to be brief about the problems.  Sorry guys, but this is the biggest setback for our business so far in two years.  Vista is very very bad...it doesn't seem that it was ready for the marketplace and small firms like us (40 people) are paying the price for it.  It's everyone that I talk to, not just us.  If the goal was to confuse and frustrate the user and create more work for IT professionals, then excellent job to Microsoft.  We have one Mac in the building and it's the only damn thing that boots up in 10 seconds, talks to the server and has no issues.
MAY 22
 

Posted by Windows Vista Team Blog

Microsoft's premier annual conference for IT Pros and Developers is almost upon us. Launched in 1993,
JUN 29
 

Posted by Sarah Case

I'm a new online student and just got this PC with Vistas, I am having a problem downloading different things off the internet from various site for example yahoo messenger, it goes to 5% and tells me there is a problem, the site says it's compatable, will the ACT 5.0 help resolves these types of problems, and futer problems like these regarding school downloads for my law class.

AUG 14
 

Posted by FrankW

For more free downloads on Vista migration you can go to migrate2vista.com. They offer some useful solutions for easy migration to Vista, checking msi packages to Vista compatibility and many more. And not long time ago they've started to giveaway "The Expert's Guide to Implementing Microsoft Windows Vista" e-book for everybody who downloads one of their solutions.
MAR 26
 

Posted by Don Frederick

I just registered and don't know how to post. I am not too bright with PC, Please tell me where to click.
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