A message from my colleague, Ran Oelgiesser, Senior Product Manager for MED-V:

In May 2008, Microsoft closed the acquisition of the desktop virtualization vendor Kidaro, which soon became Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) – the sixth product in MDOP. I came to Microsoft with this acquisition, and today I’m proud to let you all know that MED-V 1.0, the first product from the Kidaro technology, is available in beta today.   Simply register at https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=665 and download the beta software. For an easy start, on the site, we also prepared a Quick Start guide to walk you through the installation and testing of MED-V 1.0 beta.

For those of us on the MED-V product team, our primary goal was to deliver an enterprise virtualization solution for the compatibility challenges that IT teams have with some of their line-of-business applications, during the upgrade to new operating systems (like Windows Vista). With MED-V 1.0, you can easily create, deliver and centrally manage virtual Windows XP or 2000 environments (based on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007), and help your users to run legacy applications on their Windows Vista desktops. No need to wait for the testing and migration of those incompatible applications to complete.

The final version of MED-V 1.0 is slated to release in the second quarter of this year as a part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. As you know, the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) is a suite of virtualization and management technologies that extends the Windows platform by enabling user productivity anywhere, greater IT control of the desktop, and streamlined PC management.

Finally, I want to invite you to explore our new website where you can find everything you want to know about MED-V: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/med-v.aspx.

Looking forward to your feedback (medvbeta@microsoft.com)!

We understand IT is critical to your business. We hear you, our customers - both end user and IT Pro alike - you want your systems, applications and data to be available when you need it, where you need it.  I suspect you've heard many Microsoft resources demonstrating and discussing the value of combining Windows Vista and MDOP together, here is an opportunity to see it for yourself without a Microsoftie pitching to you :-) 

 
With all the technologies available in the market it can be overwhelming to determine which one to use to solve your business challenge.  Here is an example of how Windows Vista’s BitLocker and MDOP’s App-V can help you be more productive while on the road and when disaster strikes. Now you can take your profile settings, applications and data wherever you go.

We're serious about providing world class solutions to our customers but we also have a sense of humor and like to have a little fun along the way.  Are you a Ralph or a Ruby? Enjoy! 

 
Adventures in Windows Vista video.

This is a fun, yet instructive video,  showcasing with a great sense of humor the value of Windows Vista Enterprise and MDOP from an enterprise end user perspective.   Click here to watch the video.