Windows 7 RC Expiration

• March 1, 2010 – Windows 7 RC pre-expiration shut downs begin.
  Beginning March 1, the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will start to shut down every two hours in preparation for its expiration on June 1, 2010. That means you will need to migrate your RC systems to a released to manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7; or your previous operating system. Remember to back up all your data as either option will require a clean installation.

Support for Windows Vista RTM Ends

• April 13, 2010 – Support for Windows Vista RTM ends.
  To help ensure your Windows Vista PCs stay secure and up to date, make sure they are running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 Ends

• July 13, 2010 – Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 ends.
  If you are running Windows XP, stay more secure by moving to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) or migrating to Windows 7.

Updating your Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista–based PCs before the end of mainstream support dates will ensure that your PCs stay supported and receive security updates. Migrating to Windows 7 provides the longest support lifecycle for your organization, helping to ensure protection, support, and timely updates.

End of Support

Visit our new End of Support center when it goes live Feb 18th @ www.microsoft.com/eos. For more information on Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server End of Support visit Windows 2000 End of Support Solution Center. 

Testing/Evaluating Windows 7 and More

There are a number of downloads providing a great opportunity for you to  test/evaluate a full version of Windows 7 Enterprise, and a number of solutions as well:

• Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial
• Download the Windows Server 2008 R2 Trial Software
• Evaluate Forefront Server Security Management Console today
• Download Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 Beta Today
• Evaluate System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 today
• Evaluate Windows HPC Server 2008

The TechNet team at Microsoft is planning some big changes to the TechNet web site over the next few months.“TechNet 2.0” or “TN20” for short is the project called.

TechNet 2.0 is a continual effort to improve the way how Microsoft audience discover information, the presentation of content with better quality and timeliness, and the invitations for participating in the site. In other words, improved user experience, better discoverability, and increased participations are what TN20 is hoping to achieve.

To find out more of TN20, Keith’s has a blog series details the exciting changes coming.

	Build your test lab with Boot-to-VHD. Here are the steps.
	Deploy a VM to cloud and build your lab in Windows Azure with 90-day free trial. Here's how.
	Preping for Microsoft certifications? Join our Windows Server 2012 "Early Experts" Study Group.

The main delivery of App-V 4.6 is 64-bit supportability. The rest product features and functions are much the same, if not identical, with those of App-V 5.1 SP1.The following shows App-V 4.6 Windows Desktop Client and App-V 4.6 Client for Remote Desktop Services (or Terminal Services) installed in a 64-bit operating system.

Notice this 21-minute screencast is not a tutorial of App-V 4.6. The viewers are expected to be already experienced with App-V and familiar with App-V infrastructure. The presented App-V user experience is based on a server-based deployment scenario with a full App-V infrastructure with packages streamed in RTSPS over port 332. Using RTSPS provides high security since the communication between App-V Servers and Clients is signed and encrypted. The following table depicts the methods for deploying virtual application packages to terminal servers and Windows desktops. In the screencast, I employed an App-V Management Server with local SQL Server 2008. The demo environment consists of  virtual machines running within my laptop which is a Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V role added.

Source: Application Virtualization 4.5 for Terminal Services

The configurations of the demo environment is highlighted in the topology diagram shown below. Here contoso.corp is an Active Directory domain with an App-V infrastructure of the following components.

• An App-V Management Server is responsible for publishing the shortcuts and file-type associations and streaming application packages to App-V clients. The App-V Data Store is in a SQL database and retains information related to the App-V infrastructure.
• An App-V Management Console is a MMC 3.0 snap-in management utility for App-V Management Server administration. An App-V Management Console can be installed with an App-V Server as configured in the demos here or on a separate workstation that has MMC 3.0 and .NET 2.0 installed.
• An App-V Client provides the virtual environment for running virtualized applications by managing and streaming App-V packages into cache, publishing refresh, and interacting with designated App-V Servers. Both App-V Desktop Client and App-V/TS Client are available and demonstrated in the screencast.

To minimize the number of virtual machines needed, I installed App-V Management Server, App-V Admin Console, and SQL Server 2008 in the domain controller, dc.contoso.corp. While App-V 4.6 Terminal Services (App-V/TS) Client was installed in the Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH), app.contoso.corp. And App-V 4.6 Windows Desktop Client was installed in a managed Windows 7 desktop, w7ent.contoso.corp. The domain, contoso.corp was configured with DirectAccess with w7ent as a DirectAccess client. 

In the demos, I first talked about how the demo evironemnt is configured. And with the App-V default application which is the test application installed with App-V Management Console, I added domain admins as the authorized users to verify the readiness and correctness of the App-V infrastructure. Later I used a test account, alice, to test the streamed App-V applications. Notice the demo environment was constructed to mainly present the user experience of App-V 4.6 with minimal complexity. No attempt was made to optimize the performance, server placement, or user profile management.

Additional resources on App-V:

• Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V)
• App-V 4.5 Documentation
• App-V 4.5 Licensing
• TechCenter
• Blog
• Case Studies
• Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)

For those who would like to try and get familiar with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, follow the following links to download, install, and test it out. Here I also include the download information of Forefront and System Center which are essential for securing and managing enterprise infrastructure.

• Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial 
• Download the Windows Server 2008 R2 Trial Software     
• Evaluate Forefront Server Security Management Console today    
• Download Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 Beta Today    
• Evaluate System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 today  
• Evaluate Windows HPC Server 2008