If you liked the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, you will love the free Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator. Free, agent-less deskotp and server assessment, including hardware and device inventory, compatibility analysis, and readiness pre-fab reports that'll make you look like the genius you are to upper management. Salty goodness.

This release also includes new features for gathering performance metrics from computers you are considering for consolidation using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2. Using the performance metrics and a model virtual server host computer, you can generate reports that recommend placement of the physical servers in a virtual server environment.

This tool incorporates the assessment features provided by the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator, including localization of the Windows Vista assessment reports in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

System Requirements

  • Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows XP Professional Edition
  • Hardware Requirements:
    • 1.6-GHz or faster processor minimum
    • 1.5 GB of RAM minimum (2.0GB for Windows Vista)
    • 1 GB of available hard-disk space required
    • 10/100 Mbps network adapter required
  • Software Requirements: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition for storing inventory and assessment data. Microsoft Word 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Excel 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Excel 2007 for generating reports.
  • CPU Architecture: The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator can only be installed on 32-Bit versions of any of the supported operating systems.

Others who downloaded Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator also downloaded:

  1. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor 1.0
  2. Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0

TechNet Edge has a couple of good videos:

Solution Accelerators Beta release PM interview - Part 1

Solution Accelerators Beta release PM interview - Part 2