The wait is over!  The much-anticipated Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.1 (MAP) has now been released to the web.  Formerly known as Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, this new release is now packed with many new features such as:

• Hyper-V virtualization candidates assessment (+ improved virtual machines inventory)
• SQL server discovery and assessment
• 64-bit installation support
• Desktop Windows Security Center assessment

For those of you who are new to the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP), in a nutshell, MAP is basically a network-wide agent-less tool that can help you quickly find out where your desktops and servers are and then it would auto-generate upgrade recommendations for multiple products and technologies including server, desktop and virtualizatoin migration scenarios covering:

• Windows Vista hardware and device compatibility assessment
• Office 2007 hardware compatibility assessment
• Windows Server 2008 hardware and device compatibility assessment
• Microsoft Application Virtualization hardware compatibility assessment
• SNMP inventory reporting
• And the MAP 3.1 feature list above including Hyper-V and SQL Server

Download Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.1 RTM version now at:

• http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=111000

Or learn more about the MAP Toolkit by visiting our other resources:

• See what we presented at TechEd about MAP 3.1:
• http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog/archive/2008/06/13/teched-2008-announcing-microsoft-assessment-and-planning-toolkit-3-1-beta-release.aspx
• Read more about MAP on TechNet:     
• http://www.microsoft.com/MAP
• See MAP videos at MAP Team Blog:    
• http://blogs.technet.com/MAPBLOG (look for video posts)
• Join the Forum to get help:                  
• http://forums.technet.microsoft.com/en-US/map/threads/
• Join the MAP "Fan Club" on Facebook: 
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Microsoft-Assessment-and-Planning-Solution-Accelerator/10844334345
• Stay in touch with us via RSS:             
• http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog/rss.xml (so you won't miss our upcoming demo videos and IT pro hero stories!)
• Most importantly, we have tons of Solution Accelerators like MAP that will take care of your server, client, and virtualization needs from automation to technical guidance.  Check out our solution accelerators page to learn more - hey, they're all FREE, remember?  :-)
• Virtualization Solution Accelerators
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/cc197910.aspx
• Server Solution Accelerators               
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/cc197101.aspx
• Windows Client Solution Accelerators: 
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/bb688093.aspx
• Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0:
• http://www.microsoft.com/MOF

Thank you,

Baldwin Ng (Sr. Product Manager, Solution Accelerators Team)