Today the availability of MDOP 2009 R2 has been announced.

MDOP is a set of 6 technologies (currently, this may expand over time) that increase desktop manageability, reduce your TCO, and allow for rapid technology adoption.

They are:

So, what’s new in MDOP 2009 R2?  (this content is reposted from the Official MDOP Blog)

App-V 4.5 SP1 also offers new capabilities and unique integration with Windows 7:

  • Maintain user productivity regardless of application format - integration with the Windows 7 UI maintains the user experience and productivity as virtual applications behave just as regularly installed applications. Users are able to pin applications to the taskbar and leverage jumplists to navigate between applications.
  • Increased IT control with AppLocker integration - enforcing compliance of virtual applications with AppLocker policies, and providing consistent policy management for all application types.
  • Make users productive anywhere and save on IT infrastructure using BranchCache - virtual applications traverse the WAN only once and are available to users faster through local BranchCache points, eliminating the need for an IIS Server in every branch.
  • Secure application delivery with BitLocker ToGo - IT administrators can confidently deliver virtual applications on a secured USB drive, as the associated applications are protected against unauthorized use. Only authorized users have access to the applications, including remote users who may not have connectivity to corporate network.
  • Integrate with third-party LDAP directories - reduce administrative overhead for customers who maintain their user accounts in a third-party LDAP directory, and enable Kerberos via Active Directory trust.

Once available, App-V 4.5 SP1 can be deployed immediately to production environments running XP, Vista, Windows7, and Windows Server 32-bit platforms. For customers preparing to run App-V on 64-bit Windows Client and Server platforms they can download App-V 4.6 Beta at Microsoft Connect.   App-V 4.6 will be available in H1 2010.


Enhance Windows 7 Manageability with AGPM, DaRT, and DEM

Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 4.0 enhances governance and control over Windows 7 Group Policies through change management and role-based administration, so you can control, review and track changes made to Group Policy Objects (GPOs) by different IT personnel. There are two great additions to AGPM that will make your Group Policy Management even easier than before:

  • Manage group policies across different domain forests - ability to copy Group Policy Objects (GPOs) from one domain forest to another, even if the two domains are not physically connected, easily creating a new controlled GPO or replacing an existing one.
  • Makes GPO tracking easier with new search and filter capabilities - ability to filter GPOs according to various attributes, such as name, state, or comment. You can also search for GPOs that were last changed by a particular administrator or on a particular date.

Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 6.5 enhances diagnostics of Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) with no infrastructure investment. DaRT may repair unbootable devices, and recover data from them. DaRT 6.5 makes data recovery easier for IT Pros, by presenting system drive letters, as they are mapped when logging normally into Windows

Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM) 3.5 provides insights into application and operating system failures, allowing helpdesk to be more proactive in troubleshooting PCs, without installing an agent to the endpoint. DEM 3.5 now introduces new reports to enhance desktop monitoring: Top System Errors  (the top reasons for "blue screen" errors happening on the network) and Top Application Errors (the top application errors on the network in the last 60 days grouped by computer name or user name).


Facilitate your OS Upgrade Process with AIS and MED-V

Use the Asset Inventory Service (AIS) to map which applications are running in the existing environment before upgrading to Windows 7. AIS can consolidate license use data from multiple locations, even when those do not have local IT staff. AIS is an online service and does not require server infrastructure.

Address application compatibility with Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), which will enable you to run applications that are not yet supported or tested on Windows 7, in a virtual Windows XP environment.