Microsoft ships tools for Vista migration
The software giant has released tools to ease deployment and activation, and a toolkit for resolving compatibility issues
Microsoft has released final versions of tools to help IT departments with Windows Vista migrations, including compatibility tests, deployment and activation tools, and Virtual PC 2007 to enable problem applications to run with an earlier version of Windows.
The tools consist of the Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007; Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0; Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0; Volume Activation Management Tool; the Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003; and Virtual PC 2007.
“Windows Vista was built from the ground up to simplify how people work together, find information, reduce IT costs, improve security and enable mobile environments. With the availability of these new tools, there is nothing holding back businesses from making the move to Windows Vista and immediately taking advantage of those benefits," said Shanen Boettcher, general manager for Windows Client Management at Microsoft.
BDD 2007 enables administrators to build and manage multiple image configurations for client systems. It requires Windows Server 2003 with Windows Deployment services (Windows DS) and Active Directory.
BDD also requires ACT 5.0, a toolkit to help IT departments determine if their applications are compatible with Windows Vista and how best to resolve any conflicts ahead of deployment.
Firms have two choices to activate Vista following deployment; the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) or Key Management Service (KMS). VAMT enables one PC to serve as a proxy for activating multiple computers, while KMS enables firms to manage activation on their own network. KMS runs as a service on Windows Server 2003.
The newly released Virtual PC 2007 is optimised for Windows Vista, and supports virtual machines running Vista, Windows XP, 2000, 98SE, or OS/2 Warp. As well as improved performance, the tool adds preboot execution environment (PXE) support for virtual machines, enabling them to boot from a server-hosted OS image.