In order to better provide you all the latest information on what is going on with the various Windows teams, we have partnered with the Windows Team Blog (www.windowsteamblog.com ) and moved our blog to their site.

Same content, same writers, same great information, just a different url.

Please join us and bookmark http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/springboard/default.aspx

Don’t forget our VRT with Mark Russinovich on June 18th and please don’t forget that the Windows 7 Beta will start to reboot every two hours starting July 1st. If you have not downloaded the Release Candidate yet from the Springboard site. Please do.

When planning for migration to Windows 7, specific knowledge about each computer on the network and its readiness for migration is essential. Manually conducting a detailed network inventory is time consuming and costly; and existing assessment management tools typically require software agent installation on each machine, creating a security risk. How do you gather comprehensive knowledge about your existing IT environment quickly and cost effectively?   The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 4.0 Beta gathers essential infrastructure information to answer the question “are your PCs ready for Windows 7?” This tool also assists you with Windows Server 2008 R2 readiness assessment.

What is the MAP Toolkit?

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is a powerful inventory, assessment and reporting tool that securely assesses IT environments for various platform migrations and virtualization without the use of any software agents.  This versatile toolkit:

· Quickly discovers clients, servers, and applications across your IT environment

· Conducts migration and virtualization assessment for your IT projects

· Auto-generates reports and proposals

· Scales well to small businesses and large enterprises

Accelerate Your Migration to Windows 7

Quickly and effectively collect the detailed infrastructure information you need for planning your migration to Windows 7. Create a client inventory report, and let MAP 4.0 analyze the data to assess Windows 7 readiness for your unique IT environment.

With MAP 4.0, you get the following reports and proposals for migration to Windows 7:

· Hardware Inventory Proposal.  Identify currently installed Windows Client operating systems, detailed analysis of hardware and device compatibility, and recommendations for migration to Windows 7.

· PC Security Report.  Identify desktops with anti-virus and anti-malware programs installed and Windows Firewall status.

Register to join the MAP 4.0 Beta program today!  (Live ID and registration required.)

REMINDER: Windows 7 Beta expires Aug 1st. Reboots every two hours start July 1st. Upgrade to the Windows 7 Release Candidate today! Click here to download the RC

Today we are pleased to pre-announce the Release to Web (RTW) of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.  SP2, a combined service pack for both operating systems encapsulated in a single installer, will simplify deployment, management, and support for IT Pros.  It includes support for new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards, as well as updates since SP1.  For specific information on what’s included in SP2, visit the notable changes document.

We have posted SP2 for download on our Download Center and Windows Update.   Consumers with Windows Vista SP1 can visit the Download Center or Windows Update (WU) to install SP2, but our best advice is to turn on Automatic Update (AU) and sometime during the coming months your computer will download and install SP2.  Similar to previous releases, SP2 delivery over AU is a throttled release which will begin in June. Business customers who require additional time to prepare for the download and deployment of SP2 can use the same blocker tool kit provided for Windows Vista SP1 to delay deployment.

If you are a Windows Server 2008 customer that needs increased management of SP2, we recommend using Automatic Updates/Group Policy and Windows Software Update Services (WSUS). Customers who require additional time to prepare for the download and deployment of SP2 can download the blocker tool kit to prevent SP2 from installing for up to 12 months. We hope these tools will help streamline your testing and deployment of SP2.

Business customers with Windows Vista will find the transition to Windows 7 will be significantly more straightforward due to the high degree of compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7.  If your Windows Vista SP1 deployment is already underway we recommend you continue with SP1 as planned.  Then you can deploy SP2 using your systems management infrastructure.  If you are in the early stages of deployment or still planning Windows Vista deployment our best advice is that you plan on testing and deploying Windows Vista SP2. 

Download the Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 here.

After we announced Windows XP Mode, I sat down again with Jeremy Chapman at the Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas to find out what he thought about Windows XP Mode as a solution for solving application compatibility issues.

Stephen Rose: Hi Jeremy, seems like I’m interviewing you a lot lately. So we’re at MMS here in Las Vegas and we just announced the Windows 7 Release Candidate and Windows XP Mode as a solution for allowing applications to run within a Windows XP session on a Windows 7 machine. What do you think about this technology? Will this solve everything for people having problems moving off Windows XP or Internet Explorer 6?

Jeremy Chapman: Windows XP Mode adds the seamless virtual desktop integration like we saw in Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MEDV), so you can see applications within the virtual operating system in the start menu:

And you can view applications within the physical operating system’s desktop without showing the entire virtual machine desktop.

It definitely makes the use of Virtual PC technologies much easier for the average user. As we’ve seen for the last decade or so, you can run legacy applications under the context of the legacy operating system. Initially that sounds like a good thing, as Virtual PC always has.

Stephen Rose: Explain what you mean by initially.

Jeremy Chapman: To the undiscerning eye, this looks like an easy fix and for many in sales and marketing roles, it might sound like a silver bullet for application compatibility. Despite the more intuitive user experience, the IT management issues with that are essentially the same as they have been for the last ten years or so with Virtual PC.

Stephen Rose: What do you see as the challenges with this technology then?

Jeremy Chapman: First, there are two operating systems to manage per userSecond, while we can automate and customize full operating system provisioning, it isn’t so easy to custom provision the virtual machine according to user roles and needs. Third, by default the virtual PC user account is a local administrator.

Stephen Rose: Ok, so is there anything that helps IT pros with any of these areas?

Jeremy Chapman: Definitely, MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) adds the control so you can sandbox the virtual PC environment from the physical environment. It also provides the administrative tools to provision within the virtual environment. There is granular control over how the two operating systems behave with one another and you can even pre-define which websites or web-based Line-of-Business applications need to be automatically invoked in the virtual machine’s web browser (Internet Explorer 6 by default). MED-V is also self adjusting as the virtual PC memory allocation based on available RAM on host, so that the virtual PC does not take significant resources from the user. Features like TrimTransfer update a master Virtual PC image, and MED-V will automatically distribute and apply the changes to all endpoints. Finally, MED-V will work on both Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and will not require processor-based virtualization support

Stephen Rose: That definitely sounds like the more manageable solution, but is running Virtual PC and MED-V the only recommended solution for Windows 7?

Jeremy Chapman: From the application compatibility perspective, the best thing to do is to get applications that run natively without any virtualization aids, recoding, compatibility fixes or compatibility modes needed. If you own the code and can recode the application, then do that. If you can’t recode a line-of-business application or are not dependent on support for a third party application, you can try compatibility fixes – or “shims” – to remediate the application. Finally, when all these options aren’t possible, then look into legacy operating system virtualization. If you have exhausted all other options for application remediation and intend on using Windows XP Mode, then I’d recommend following all the best practices in the Windows XP Security Compliance Management Toolkit to secure the virtual environment and manage configuration with Group Policy and desired configuration management in System Center Configuration Manager.

Stephen Rose: So who should be using Windows XP Mode then?

Jeremy Chapman: For individual users or smaller organizations where desktops are not managed, Windows XP Mode is a relatively easy solution to get working. You’ll need to find installation media for those older applications and manually install them, but it can get them working until you port everything over to the physical operating system.

Stephen Rose: So for a transitional period to the new OS, these legacy client virtualization tools can help people run their incompatible legacy applications. Is there anything else to remember with Virtual Windows XP?

Jeremy Chapman: We haven’t talked about hardware yet. So hardware needs to have hardware virtualization – Intel VT or AMDV – and have it enabled in the BIOS. Most business grade hardware produced in the last 2-3 years has that, but netbooks and older PCs often do not meet this requirement. The virtual machine also uses memory, so you’ll probably want to use PCs with 2 GB or more RAM.

Stephen Rose: Good advice. So where can people find more information on Windows XP Mode?

Jeremy Chapman: Check out Scott Woodgate’s blog post on the Windows Team Blog and Scott’s Q&A on PressPass. There is also a Virtual PC Tips and Tricks FAQ on Springboard located here

Stephen Rose: Thanks again for your time Jeremy and I’ll see you back in Redmond next week.

Over the weekend, some of you may have received an email from us reminding you that “the Windows 7 Beta expires on August 1st, 2009. In that email, we ask that if you are still on the Windows 7 Beta that you should consider moving to a “non-expired” copy of Windows such as the Windows 7 RC or Windows Vista because bi-hourly shutdowns will begin June 1st”.

The Windows 7 Beta does expire on August 1st, 2009; unfortunately the date for when bi-hourly shutdowns will begin for the Windows 7 Beta was incorrect: Bi-hourly shutdowns for the Windows 7 Beta will begin July 1st, 2009 as stated in the Windows 7 RC FAQ.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

In the meantime, if you’re still on the Windows 7 Beta, you should consider installing the Windows 7 RC in its place. You can register to download the Windows 7 RC here.

Hello again from Redmond. Let’s talk compatibility – a big component of any operating system deployment project is knowing what applications, hardware and devices your users have and whether they will work on the new OS. With Windows 7 approaching fast, Windows Senior Community Manager Stephen Rose sat down with Jeremy again and discussed the latest with the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5.

Stephen: Hi Jeremy, what have you been up to lately?

Jeremy: I’ve been traveling quite a bit over the last few weeks. We met with top industry bloggers and journalists in New York and San Francisco a few weeks back, then we had the MVP Summit in Redmond, and then it was off to Belgium for TechDays. I’m just catching up now.

Stephen: Wow, welcome back. So tell me about the Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5. What’s new?

Jeremy: The Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 is a tremendous resource to inventory your applications, hardware, and devices; evaluate compatibility of applications and Websites; and even fix applications using Compatibility Fixes or “shims.” What’s new is that we now support pre-RTM versions of Windows 7 with ACT.

Stephen: How much different are Windows 7 compatibility evaluators compared to ACT 5.0 for Windows Vista?

Jeremy: Well, the good news is that they are nearly identical. ACT 5.5 uses the exact same compatibility evaluation checks as the Windows Vista evaluators, but now we detect for calls to Windows Mail aka Outlook Express. Windows Mail was deprecated from Windows 7, but on the organization/business side, we don’t see many customers using Windows Mail and the CoStartOutlookExpress API fails gracefully, so the impact of that removal should be very low. If you do encounter any issues, the fix is to get Windows Live Mail or another e-mail client.

Stephen: That’s it? It is Windows Vista evaluation plus the check for the CoStartOutlookExpress API?

Jeremy: Yes. To be fair, there are other things that can lead to compatibility issues for applications and drivers, like the change to the minor OS version numbers and the version of Internet Explorer. As pointed out on the Engineering 7 Blog, every effort was made to fulfill the goal that applications written for Windows Vista continue to work on Windows 7. If you want the deep details about Windows 7 application compatibility, check out the Application Quality Cookbook on MSDN.

Stephen: Yes, the Windows 7 resources keep growing. So what else is new in ACT 5.5?

Jeremy: We made the process of sending and receiving files to the application compatibility web service much more transparent in ACT 5.5. Now you can tell exactly what are sending through to the web service from your application inventory. This is the fastest way to sync application data with the same data used in the Windows Compatibility Center. This is what you see now when using the “Send and Receive” function of ACT 5.5:



And you can review all data before sending within an ACT-populated TXT audit file:



Stephen: So if you see something you don’t want to send, you can cancel out of the process. Nice.

Jeremy: You can also remove applications from the list by clicking on your application in Application Compatibility Manager and using the Action : Set Send and Receive Status control:

 

Stephen: So I know ACT as the tool that uses an agent to collect application information and report that up to a central database. Does it do anything else?

Jeremy: Now in ACT 5.5 you can label your Data Collection Packages (DCP), so if you inventory the finance department one day and sales department the next with different DCPs, then you can sort your database by the DCP label you assigned. Beyond applications, ACT also reports back detailed hardware and device information. In many cases, you can find out if a driver is in-box with Windows or available via Windows Update. ACT also finds all of your attached devices, printers, displays and so on and reports back against those.



Stephen: So it goes beyond straight applications. What about web apps?

Jeremy: The Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool in ACT will also detect potential Website issues with Internet Explorer 8 for your Line-of-Business applications and recommend ways to fix the web applications as well:

Stephen: That’s pretty powerful. So it scans the applications, hardware, devices and even the Websites users are hitting and reports back compatibility findings wherever it can. Hey, thanks for taking the time to introduce ACT and everything it can do. It’s available for anyone to download from the Microsoft Download Center.

Jeremy: One last thing… We will have a version 6.0 of the tool coinciding with Windows 7’s release. ACT 5.5 is a point release, but expect to see more enhancements and coverage in ACT 6.0.

Stephen: Looking forward to it. As always, for the latest on compatibility, visit Microsoft.com/springboard and check out the Application Compatibility and UAC zone. Thanks again, Jeremy.