Wow, no more separate downloads and archive files - just grab them from \\live.sysinternals.com\tools.  (If for some reason this doesn't work for you, try http://live.sysinternals.com.)  I see a new XCOPY command in my standard computer installation process:

XCOPY \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\*.* C:\Tools

See the announcement for this new beta program at http://blogs.technet.com/sysinternals/archive/2008/05/28/updates-process-explorer-v11-20-zoomit-v2-0-sigcheck-v1-53-handle-v3-4-and-introducing-sysinternals-live-beta.aspx.

In the US this year, they are trying something different: a two-week TechEd conference with the first week (June 3-6) focusing on developer topics and the second week (June 10-13) focusing on IT Professional topics.  (Don't worry, you will register for each week separately.)  This is very similar to the organization used for the European version of the conference, not surprisingly (although this year for the European event in November the IT Professional week will be held first).

For more information on the events, see the official websites at http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2008/itpro/default.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2008/developer/default.mspx.  Full session catalogs are available.

The sessions I am presenting are pretty much the same as those given at MMS 2008 in Las Vegas last month, with a couple of additional ones added to make our lives a little more interesting:

Advanced Operating System Deployment with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager: Extending OS Deployment with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (Part 3 of 4)

Microsoft Deployment is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. New features in Microsoft Deployment integrate with and extend the native OS deployment functionality of Configuration Manager 2007 while providing thorough project management guidance. Examine how the Microsoft Deployment toolkit uses and extends the OS deployment capabilities presented in parts 1 and 2, providing new wizards, task sequence templates, additional server deployment automation, and other features.

Advanced Operating System Deployment with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager: Provisioning Your Windows Deployment with Microsoft Deployment (BDD) (Part 4 of 4)

Now that you have a good understanding of the OS deployment features and functionality provided by Configuration Manager and Microsoft Deployment, explore ways to create dynamic, data-driven deployment processes. We discuss performing rules-based, data-driven deployments; using external data sources; adding your own scripts and customizing those provided with Microsoft Deployment; overriding task sequence properties; and other advanced topics.

What's New in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008? Updates for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 introduce new changes in the underlying service stack and Windows Automated Installation Kit. These changes are addressed in the second release of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 (formerly BDD). This session introduces MDT 2008 changes. MDT 2008 focuses on Windows Vista SP1 support and Windows Server enhancements; it provides broader support for automated role installation using Server Manager in Windows Server 2008. This session is presented first-hand by solution developers and provides a current roadmap and release schedule for future MDT releases.

Unleash the Power of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 (formerly BDD) with Customization

This session is for those who fully understand the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008, Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, and Systems Management Server 2003 with OS Deployment FP toolsets, but are looking to do more. We pool the key deployment customization themes and provide concrete examples to improve your deployments. In this session, we do not cover overview themes or 300-level content, but we discuss topics such as: understanding and using rules, deep dive into the deployment wizards, how to utilize the scripting framework to create your own scripts, using naming conventions, custom database lookups, and Web service lookups. We encourage open dialog for additional advanced customization themes and requests.

Automated Windows Server 2008 Imaging and Deployment Using the Microsoft Deployment Accelerator

Deployment tools for Windows Server 2008 have changed and most legacy tools will not support automated installation of Windows Server 2008. Microsoft Deployment is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. The fourth generation deployment accelerator supports Windows Server 2008 imaging and deployment. This session is delivered by solution developers and explains how you can use Microsoft Deployment to plan deployments, create disk images, customize installation task sequences, automate disk and NIC configuration, and automate server role defintion. We discuss the current released tools (System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and Windows Deployment Services [WDS] with multicast support), features and limitations, and the Microsoft Deployment release roadmap.

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950527 for the ConfigMgr 2007 hotfix that adds new supported platform entries for:

• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

These changes should be included in ConfigMgr SP1 too, so you can choose to wait for that too.

A separate hotfix for SMS 2003 SP3 should be available in the near future.

Yes, in fact there are two different types:

• Class=SCSIAdapter.  Until recently, most mass storage drivers specified class "SCSIAdapter," which doesn't mean that they are actually SCSI-based.  Drivers for many IDE/ATA and RAID controllers also fall into this class.
• Class=hdc. HDC is an abbreviation for "hard disk controller."  Many newer drivers, especially for SATA-based controllers, specify this class.

The MSDN web page at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791134.aspx talks about the different classes of drivers, but doesn't get into too much detail about the differences.  For most purposes, you really shouldn't care too much either, unless you are working with products or scripts that need to know the difference.  That brings us to Configuration Manager 2007 and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit: both care about driver classes and need to take into account that there are two different types.  Unfortunately, neither one did when they were released:

• ConfigMgr 2007 didn't include logic for class=hdc so it only detects class=SCSIAdapter.  The fix for this will be included in ConfigMgr 2007 SP1, due out very soon.
• Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 did include logic for class=hdc, but one script was missed.  This script, ZTIStorageDriversSysprep.wsf, only inserts class=SCSIAdapter drivers into sysprep.inf.  A companion script, ZTIStorageDrivers.wsf, includes the correct logic, so if you are creative enough (hint: search for "hdc") you can figure out what needs to be fixed.  We'll release a KB with the official details as soon as we can.

If you are using newer hardware that supports SATA disks but you've never run into either of these issues, it might be because you've configured your hardware in ATA or legacy mode, instead of using AHCI mode.  Generally, I believe you should avoid ATA/legacy mode, as you lose some of the benefits of AHCI, including hot plug support (primarily beneficial with eSATA ports, http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-012308.htm), native command queing (http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-012305.htm), and on some hardware, RAID array support. 

Keep in mind though that you can't just switch from one to the other without careful planning - because ATA/legacy and AHCI modes require different drivers, Windows has to know about the new driver before making the switch.  See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 for some details on what needs to be done for Windows Vista.  Also check out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928253 if you have SATA-based optical drives.  Both of those issues are fixed in Windows Vista SP1.

Driver support for common AHCI-based mass storage controllers is included in Windows Vista SP1.  For Windows XP, though, you need to make sure that the right drivers are included in the image.  (That's what ConfigMgr and MDT 2008 are trying to do for you.)

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit includes a check in the Lite Touch script LTISysprep.wsf to ensure that you are using the right version of SYSPREP when preparing your Windows XP image for capture.  With the release of Windows XP SP3, that means you need to have updated SYSPREP files too.  If you integrate the service pack into Windows XP SP2, you'll get the latest OS files, but you won't get the latest SYSPREP files - the SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB will not be updated.

So, that leads to the question:  Where get I get an updated DEPLOY.CAB with the right SYSPREP files?  Simple, download one of these:

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Deployment Tools (just the DEPLOY.CAB)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=673a1019-8e3e-4be0-ac31-70dd21b5afa7&displaylang=en

Windows XP Service Pack 3 - ISO-9660 CD Image File (the DEPLOY.CAB plus the rest of the SP3 content)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2fcde6ce-b5fb-4488-8c50-fe22559d164e&DisplayLang=en

If you donwload the ISO, you'll need to either burn it to a CD or mount it using an appropriate tool.  Then you can get to the DEPLOY.CAB in the SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB folder. 

Once you have the DEPLOY.CAB file, overlay the SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB in your XP SP3 source directory (e.g. \Distribution\Operating Systems\XPSP3\SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB) with this new version.  (If you have extracted the SYSPREP file and placed them in the OS source directory, you'll need to repeat that process with the SP3 versions of the files, or just remove the extracted SYSPREP files and let the LTISysprep.wsf script take care of it for you as part of the capture process.)

(Updated to include a link directly to the DEPLOY.CAB download, posted today.  Thanks to Blake Handler, http://bhandler.spaces.live.com/, for pointing that out.)

For those of you familiar with how BDD 2007 and MDT used the SMS 2003 OSDSWDEXEC.EXE program to install packages specified via CustomSettings.ini or in the BDD/MDT database.  That same capability is present with ConfigMgr 2007 using the built-in "Install Software" step.  See more on that at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680842.aspx.

From an MDT 2008 perspective, the implementation is nearly identical to what we did before with SMS 2003: we need to build up a list of packages using task sequence variables, specifying a common base name and a sequential numeric suffix.  In our default ConfigMgr task sequence template, we use a base variable name of "PACKAGES".  So you could specify entries in CustomSettings.ini like so:

PACKAGES001=XXX00001:Install
PACKAGES002=XXX00002:Install
PACKAGES003=XXX00003:Install

(Replace "XXXnnnnn" with your package ID and "Install" with your program name.  Also, in the case of CustomSettings.ini, we don't care if you specify PACKAGES1, PACKAGES2, PACKAGES3 or PACKAGES001, PACKAGES002, PACKAGES003 as we'll do the necessary translation to the ConfigMgr-mandated three-digit suffix.)

You could also specify the same values in the MDT database (on the Packages tab; we'll take care of building the proper list); in ConfigMgr collection or computer variables (you need to specify the PACKAGES001-style names, with no gaps in the sequence); via your own scripts; or via "Set Variable" steps added to the task sequence.  Regardless of how these values are set, the "Install Software" step that we have configured to look at the "PACKAGES" base variable name will see the entries in the list and install them all in the order specified.  Getting into all the pros and cons of one method versus another is a subject for a later day - for those of you who attended the "Part 4" session Tim and I gave at MMS 2008, you already heard this.

There is one other requirement to keep in mind (covered in the documentation at the link above, in case you didn't read that far):  Before ConfigMgr will allow a specific package:program to be installed, you have to enable it by checking the "Allow this program to be installed from a list of software packages in the "Install Software" task sequence step without being advertised" checkbox on the program.  This is a security feature in ConfigMgr: it wants your permission as an administrator before allowing this.

If you want to enable this option for all of your programs, consider running a script like this which will flip the required ProgramFlags bit for each program:

    sProviderServer = ""
    sSiteCode = "CEN"
    sNamespace = "root\sms\site_" & sSiteCode
    sUsername = ""
    sPassword = ""

    ' Connect to the SMS provider

    Set oLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
    Set oSMS = oLocator.ConnectServer(sProviderServer, sNamespace, sUsername, sPassword)

    ' Build the query

    sQuery = "SELECT * FROM SMS_Program"

    ' Process the query

    iCount = 0
    Set oPrograms = oSMS.ExecQuery(sQuery)
    For each oProgram in oPrograms
        If (oProgram.ProgramFlags and 1) = 0 then
            oProgram.ProgramFlags = oProgram.ProgramFlags or 1
            WScript.Echo "Enabling: " & oProgram.PackageID & ":" & oProgram.ProgramName
            On Error Resume Next
            oProgram.Put_
            If Err then
                WScript.Echo "ERROR enabling " & oProgram.PackageID & ":" & oProgram.ProgramName & " possibly because of insufficient rights or because the package is not owned by this site.  " & Err.Description
            Else
                iCount = iCount + 1
            End if
        End if

    Next

    WScript.Echo "Total programs enabled: " & iCount

The script loops through each program, checking to see if the first bit (AUTHORIZED_DYNAMIC_INSTALL, described briefly in the ConfigMgr SDK) of the ProgramFlags field is enabled, and if it isn't the script enables it.  In most cases, you would want to run this program (using an account with sufficient rights) on your central primary site server, although if you have packages and programs defined at lower-level sites you would want to run it on them as well if you plan to use a task sequence to install any of those programs.

If you don't want to enable this on all programs, you can either modify the script above or you can manually enable the programs that you want.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit contains a script named ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf that can be enabled to run during Lite Touch OS deployments.  By default, it will talk to the Microsoft Update site on the internet to get the latest updates needed for your Windows OS and Microsoft applications like Office.  But you might not want all of the machines you deploy doing that.  So with MDT 2008, we added the ability to install updates from a WSUS server.  The "Toolkit Reference" document describes the basic process:

MDT 2008 can also configure WUA to collect updates from computers on the corporate network that are running WSUS instead of connecting to Microsoft Updates over the Internet. MDT 2008 can optionally configure WUA to use a specific computer running WSUS using the WSUSServer property.

But the actual description of the WSUSServer property, and a sample of how to set it, was accidentally left out of the documentation.  This needs to be configured via CustomSettings.ini by adding an entry that looks like this:

WSUSServer=http://mywsusservername

With that set, the ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf script will automatically configure the Windows Update Agent to talk to this WSUS server instead of using Microsoft Update.

One other note: the new OS being deployed to the machine must be running a supported version of the Windows Update Agent (WUA).  Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 don't contain that needed version, so they need to be upgraded.  This will be done automatically by the script, downloading the files from the internet if necessary.  But it would be more efficient for you to download them in advance and place them where the script can find them.  Again from the documentation:

For additional information and for WUA deployment instructions, go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932139.aspx.

You can obtain the latest version of the WUA stand-alone installer for:

• x86 versions (WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe) at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=100334.
• x64 version (WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe) at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=100335.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 include the most recent version of WUA, so no upgrade is necessary for these operating systems. In Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, one of the following will occur:

• If the WUA 3.0 stand-alone installer files are in the TOOLS\architecture folder (where architecture is either x86 or x64) on the deployment point, MDT 2008 will automatically install WUA on the target computer.
  
  When downloading the WUA 3.0 stand-alone installer files, save them in the distribution\TOOLS\architecture folder (where distribution is the folder where the distribution point is created).
  
• If the WUA 3.0 stand-alone installer files are not in the TOOLS\architecture folder on the deployment point and if the existing version of WUA is configured for a WSUS server, then WUA will attempt to update itself from a WSUS server. If the existing version of WUA is not configured for a WSUS server, then MDT 2008 will attempt to download and install WUA 3.0 from the Microsoft Update site. In this case, Internet access is required for the target computer.

So if you set WSUSServer and download the updated stand-alone installers, then the ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf script will be able to update your computer without access the internet to do so.

It seems to be a common question:  Why does MDT 2008 still use VBScript during OS deployments, rather than moving to something more "cutting edge" like PowerShell.  So let's review a few reasons:

• You probably don't yet want to use PowerShell in your old operating system.  Imagine if we shipped a solution that said "before you can upgrade your machine from Windows XP to Windows Vista, you first need to deploy .NET Framework 2.0 and PowerShell 1.0 to all of your XP computers."  Deploying these technologies to an OS that might not yet have them, when you are then just going to wipe that OS to install a new OS, adds an unnecessary burden.
• PowerShell isn't supported in Windows PE because Windows PE doesn't include .NET Framework support.  So any scripting that we have to run in Windows PE can't be written in PowerShell.
• PowerShell isn't supported in Windows Server 2008 Server Core, as Server Core doesn't include .NET Framework support (and therefore no PowerShell either).  We don't want to have to create a PowerShell script that would run on Windows Server 2003 or a full install of Windows Server 2008, but then create a VBScript to run on Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation option.
• IT administrators are still much more familiar with VBScript than with PowerShell.  We want you to be able to read the scripts, and make modifications if necessary.  (This is the same reason we don't just convert it all to C++: we want you to be able to understand it.)

As time goes by, PowerShell will become more and more prevalent, so we'll revisit this periodically.  At this point, it's safe to say that your VBScript knowledge will serve you well for quite some time.

Now, supporting PowerShell on the MDT/ConfigMgr server (for configuration of task sequences; importing source files for apps, OSes, drivers, patches, etc.; populating databases; etc.) makes much more sense, so we are investigating what additional PowerShell support we can provide there.  (You can do some things now, as our server-side components are written in .NET.)  There is nothing committed at this point, though.  If you're interested in something like that, please let me know.

Bill Anderson talked this morning about System Center Configuration Manager.  Of course, the session started with the Top 10 list:

What other uses have you found for SCCM 2007?

10.  Use inventory to find out what music you have where.

9.  Use task sequences to operate the model railroad in your basement.

8.  Use daily mandatory advertisement to automate morning procedures.

7.  Inventory and metering to track electronic comic book collection.  (The picture of Ed is a new classic.)

6.  Use DCM to re-balance your stock portfolio.

5.  Inventory and NAP for (controlling/quarantine) kids.

4.  Inventory and distribution for wine cellar.

3.  Configuration Pack for MD-80 aircraft.

2.  SMS in the news.  (Ministers dismissed by SMS.  SMS the musical.  Man divorces two wives in three minutes using SMS.  Dead wife contacts man via SMS.)

1.  NAP for public restrooms.  (Finland's roadside toilets now accessible only by SMS.)

OK, so maybe you have to be there to appreciate the list :-)

Next up, Bill showed a video of Jarvis Davis's OS deployment capabilities at Campus Crusade for Christ, easily operated by his 5-year-old daughter.  I suspect you'll be able to watch this yourself soon :-)

On to the real content.  First, Bill is covering a lot of information, and while I can type quickly I still can't type as fast as he talks.  So I'll do my best in outline mode.  Bill summarized the last year since ConfigMgr 2007 has been released: 

• ConfigMgr has 5.8 million lines of code with 3.2 million lines of test automation code and 2000 VMs running 40,000 test cases. 
• 385 individual UI pieces used in 1100 different places
• 2 million words of documentation as of SP1
• 40+ TAP and RDP customers, with over 200,000 clients deployed prior to RTM, with 77 DCRs and 484 bugs filed as a result of TAP feedback.
• MSIT has 2000,000 ConfigMgr clients with 2 hierarchies spanning 14 sites, using SUM, asset management, 140 software distributions.  Working on NAP, OSD, DCM, IBCM, Application Virtualization.
• Software quality metrics sends data to Microsoft about your MMC and feature usage when you opt in.  Enable the "Customer Experience Improvement Program."
• Support feedback:
• 60-70% of support calls are advisory (asking for help, not bugs or problems)
• See KB 945898 for info about a bug in the Offer Status Summarizer
• New site deployment and SMS 2003 upgrade issues are common
• Active directory schema extension issues
• SQL issues with SPNs, accounts, name resolution
• Client and network firewalls getting in the way
• MyITForum.com and Technet.microsoft.com forums are very active
• TechNet will be upgraded in the next 30-60 days
• Scale and performance
• Hardware and software inventory is multithreaded
• Provider can run on a separate server
• Less overhead with secondary sites since there are no more legacy clients
• Site backup uses VSS and is very fast, offline for only a few minutes
• State messages generate new load on ConfigMgr servers (client deployments, software updates, configuration baseline evaluations, CAL tracking) - stagger these if possible
• Native mode adds 10-15% overhead on client
• Consider placing SQL Server on a different server with a dedicated gigabit network link
• Tune you I/O as ConfigMgr is I/O-heavy
• Slight penalty running on 64-bit (WOW64), but not an issue with less than 50-70K machines
• SDK released in Mach 2008
• All areas documented: site server (SMS provider), admin UI, client SDK
• Lots of additional documentation (400K words in SMS 2003, 1.1 million in ConfigMgr), twice as many of code snippets, 10 full samples, DCM authoring guides
• Documentation improvements
• Quizzes
• Updated documentation provided through a hotfix - download from the download center
• Superflows, providing interactive content (animation, hyperlinks, etc.) on the inner workings of various ConfigMgr functions - download these, even print them

Now, looking ahead:

• ConfigMgr SP1
• Six hotfixes and one customer DCR rolled in
• Infrastructure to support R2 features
• Windows Server 2008 support
• Vista SP1 support details
• Asset Intelligence 1.5
• Intel AMT integration
• ConfigMgr R2
• Application virtualization management
• Client status reporting
• New OSD server provisioning scenarios
• Multicast support
• Unknown computer support
• SQL Reporting Services support
• Forefront Client security integration
• Planning time
• Requirements gathering, scenarios, functional specs, "passionate discourse" (arguing), customer visits, prototyping

Brady Richardson then gave a demonstration of a new prototype showing some thoughts around improving Desired Configuration Management: generating new DCM baselines automatically by watching the installation of an application (comparing before and after). 

Bill and Brady then talked about the main pillars for the next version of ConfigMgr:

• Embracing the end-user of the future
• Administrator experience
• Simplifying
• Do what we do today, better

Maybe by next year's MMS 2009 conference the full details for the next release of ConfigMgr will be available.

There are 42 breakout sessions and 23 hands-on labs related to ConfigMgr 2007 this week, as well as 20+ members of the ConfigMgr product group at the event.

Bob Muglia presented today's keynote session, talking about the problems of the Dynamic Datacenter and solutions that are possible.  First up, Michael Kelley demonstrated how System Center Configuration Manager 2007 can be used to deploy an OS to servers in a datacenter.  As part of this, Michael showed the new Dell PowerEdge Server Deployment configuration pack to help with the hardware configuration: setting up RAID configuration, configuring BIOS settings for Hyper-V, etc.

That's the first announcement:  The Dell PowerEdge Server Deployment configuration pack.  This will be available in a few weeks for downloading from the Dell web site.

The next part of Michael's demo showed how to configure the operating system after it's been installed.  He used the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit to install roles (Hyper-V, Active Directory Domain Services, etc.) and then took it the next step and used MDT to configure AD, automating the process of turning the server into a new domain controller.

No new announcement there - that functionality is already present in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 :-)

Next, Michael showed how to configure the Configuration Manager 2007 R2 multicast capabilities, enabling scalable mass deployments of servers in the datacenter, while minimizing the overall impact on the datacenter's network.

That's another announcement, if you hadn't already heard:  Configuration Manager 2007 R2 will add multicast capabilities for OS deployment, leveraging the capabilities provided in Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2008, when R2 releases later this year.  It's available in beta now via the Connect web site.

Bob talked then talked about how the Microsoft TechNet and MSDN web sites are now completely virtualized, running with Hyper-V.  Performance is very good, and is very competitive with VMware ESX.

Maybe not an announcement, but a great public declaration: Microsoft is already using Hyper-V for large-scale production use.

To help with the management of Hyper-V and VMware ESX, Bob introduced Rakesh Malhotra to talk about managing virtual machines using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, the new version that fully supports Hyper-V and VMware ESX management.

Another announcement: The System Center Virtual Machine Manager beta is available today.

Rakesh also showed how Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) is built on top of PowerShell, generating scripts to perform all the UI tasks.  Bob talked about how Hyper-V doesn't yet support "Live Migration" but will in the future.  (Right now, it supports "Quick Migration", which basically uses Windows clustering to save the state of a machine, move it to a new node, and start it up again.) VMM does support VMware's VMotion capabilities.

To help with the setup of "Quick Migration", VMM supports setting up high availability VMs using Windows clustering.  VMM also integrates with System Center Operations Manager 2007, helping with the monitoring and control of your virtual machine environment.  This SCOM integration implements "PRO tips", enabling SCOM to make suggestions for changes to your environment (e.g. add a new IIS server), with a single button "Implement" capabilities to make those changes using automatically-generated PowerShell scripting.

Bob then talked about application virtualization, using products like SoftGrid or using capabilities provided in IIS, SQL Server, and other applications that enable single operating systems to run multiple independent workloads.  This lead into the discussion of modeling: initially using something like SCOM to enable health modeling of your environment, but expanding well beyond that in the future.  Bob originally said five years ago that this was a 10-year vision, with five more years of work to fully implement the original vision.

Next up, Barry Shilmover demonstrated the cross platform extensions for System Center Operations Manager 2007, supporting various Unix and Linux environments.  This solution leverages OpenPegasus (a CIMOM implementation, similar to WMI), OpenWSMan (an open-source WS-Man framework), and some specific OpsMgr providers running on the Unix/Linux hosts to provide information back to the OpsMgr server for monitoring, reporting, etc. - all the standard OpsMgr functionality.  Barry also showed an Oracle management pack from Quest and a MySQL one from Xandros, a management pack for Apache and PHP from Xandros, and more.

Another announcement:  The beta version of the Cross Platform Extensions for System Center Operations Manager 2007 is available today.

Bob also talked about new connectors for OpsMgr that enables integration with Tivoli and HP Openview.