John Towler's Blog

MDT 2012: Reliable and flexible OS deployment—now with support for System Center Configuration Manager 2012

John Towler - MSFT — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:32:52 GMT

The latest version of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit—version 2012— is now available for download.

Visit the Download Center to download MDT 2012.

Deploy Windows 7, Office 2010, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Server “8” Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the newly released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012. MDT 2012 is the newest version of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment. MDT is the recommended process and toolset for automating Windows 7 and Office 365 deployments.

The Solution Accelerators Team added new features to MDT 2012 that include the ability for users to initiate and customize their own deployments using System Center Configuration Manager 2012, key enhancements in Windows 7 driver support, and much more.

MDT 2012 will provide new benefits such as:

· Comprehensive tools and guidance to efficiently manage large-scale deployments of Microsoft Office 2010.

· An enhanced User-Driven Installation (UDI) deployment method that utilizes System Center Configuration Manager 2012. UDI lets end users initiate and customize an OS deployment on their PCs—via an easy-to-use wizard.

· Ease Lite Touch installation with new capabilities to check on the status of currently running deployments.

· This release provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a lab environment.

These features, combined with many bug fixes and other improvements, make MDT 2012 more reliable and flexible than ever.

Support for Configuration Manager 2012: MDT 2012 provides support for Configuration Manager 2012 releases. MDT 2012 fully leverages the capabilities provided by Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment. Users now also have the ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012.

Customize deployment questions: For System Center Configuration Manager customers, MDT 2012 provides an improved, extensible wizard and designer for customizing deployment questions.

Ease Lite Touch installation: The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) is now integrated with Lite Touch Installation, providing remote control and diagnostics. New monitoring capabilities are available to check on the status of currently running deployments. LTI now has an improved deployment wizard user experience. Enhanced partitioning support ensures that deployments work regardless of the current structure.

Secure Deployments: MDT 2012 offers integration with the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) tool to ensure a secure Windows deployment from the start.

Reliability and flexibility: Existing MDT users will find more reliability and flexibility with the many small enhancements and bug fixes and a smooth and simple upgrade process.

Support for Windows 8: MDT 2012 provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows Server “8” Beta in a lab environment.

Next steps:

· Download MDT 2012.

· Send your comments to the MDT Team.

· Learn more about the MDT.

Get the latest tips from Microsoft Solution Accelerators—in 140 characters or less! Follow us on Twitter: @MSSolutionAccel.

Meet Windows 8

John Towler - MSFT — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:19:00 GMT

Today is an exciting day for Windows and Microsoft! This morning Microsoft announced the availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview for people to download and try.

The Windows 8 preview page is located at http://preview.windows.com

Additionally on the Windows Experience Blog, you can find a blog post designed to help you with getting started with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview – including whether it is right for you or not.

Microsoft’s Craig Mundie on the Future of Computing

John Towler - MSFT — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:44:49 GMT

Watch Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, describe how technologies today and in the future will enable more natural interactions and enhanced capabilities, make better decisions, and help us connect with each other.

Two key themes:

We can realize profound insights from the combination of big data and machine learning
We’re seeing an increased blending of digital and physical

http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2012/02/27/microsoft_2700_s-craig-mundie-on-the-future-of-computing.aspx

Smoked by Windows Phone

John Towler - MSFT — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:46:24 GMT

Think your smartphone is fast at doing everyday tasks? Head over to the Windows Phone Facebook Page to see a head to head comparison of Windows Phone against some of the best smartphones on the market to see who wins!

Windows 8 & SkyDrive

John Towler - MSFT — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:47:46 GMT

On February 20th the Windows engineering team released some details on a key step they are taking with Windows 8 towards their vision of personal cloud storage. The post describes some of the coming improvements, including a new Metro style app for Windows 8, SkyDrive integration in Windows Explorer, and the ability to fetch any file remotely from SkyDrive.com.

A short video demonstrating these three concepts can be found here: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Connecting-your-apps-files-PCs-and-devices-to-the-cloud-with-SkyDrive-and-Windows-8

You can read the full post at: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/02/20/connecting-your-apps_2c00_-files_2c00_-pcs-and-devices-to-the-cloud-with-skydrive-and-windows-8.aspx

SkyDrive–Your personal hub for documents in the cloud

John Towler - MSFT — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:24:26 GMT

If you regularly use more than one computer or someone who has a computer, tablet, and/or smartphone you need to check out SkyDrive at http://explore.live.com/skydrive.

SkyDrive gives you the ability to access your documents across all of your devices without having to carry around a USB thumb drive or some other type of storage device. If you’re a Microsoft Office user SkyDrive also gives you access to “Office Web Apps” which gives you the ability to access, edit, and share your Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote documents online.

The life of an attachment is complex, annoying, and time wasting! http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/skydrive/attachments-suck

Do use SkyDrive. Don’t send attachments. What to learn more click here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/skydrive/do-this-not-that

Here’s a chart showing how SkyDrive measures up against other free services for sharing files and working together: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/skydrive/a-boring-chart

If you need a service that’s built for your business, check out Microsoft Office 365 at http://www.office365.com.

The rise of Personal Cloud Computing

John Towler - MSFT — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:44:00 GMT

The way one uses and interacts with computers, smartphones, tablet computers, and even video gaming consoles is undergoing a disruptive and dramatic change. This change is being brought about due to the proliferation of multiple computing devices that users now have access to and the challenges that this creates.

Today one typically logs onto a device and has access to applications and data that for the most part is directly tied to that specific device. Even in enterprise environments where file sharing is common place the applications that an employee uses to perform their job functions are usually only available on a limited number of devices the employee has access to and the IT groups that manage those computers usually target software installation to devices not users.

With the rise of all of these devices there is no longer a one user to one device relationship, we now have a one user to many devices relationship. The rise of Personal Cloud Computing is changing this for both the users of those devices and for those who manage them by shifting from a device-centric viewpoint of computing, to a service-centric approach.

The concept of “Personal Cloud Computing” is not a single thing rather it is a collection of services and technologies that will be the glue that connects multiple devices to a user to allow them access to the applications and data they need to be productive. In this new computing world, users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub, the concept of a personal cloud will take on that role.

In future blog posts I plan to cover the various services and technologies associated with Personal Cloud Computing in more detail. Please stay tuned!

Disclaimer

John Towler - MSFT — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:14:00 GMT

The opinions and views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily state or reflect those of Microsoft.

In addition the contents are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license.

Welcome

John Towler - MSFT — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:13:00 GMT

Welcome to my first blog posting!

This is my little corner of the Internet where I plan to post topics on technologies associated with Personal Cloud Computing and how organizations can benefit from this shift from a device-centric viewpoint of computing, to a service-centric approach.