As companies look to move to Windows 7, there are multiple challenges companies need to overcome:

• XP availability/End of Life
• Hardware readiness
• Application readiness
• Deployment

Join the Open Mic Q&A session with Windows industry expert Paul Thurrott and Dell’s End User Computing Solutions Architect, Phil Dakas on 20th July (Tuesday) at 4pm ET/ 3pm CT/1pm PT. Be one of the 50 winners to get a free copy of Paul Thurrott’s book - Windows 7 Secrets.

Who Should Attend: Professionals from companies with employee size 500+ involved in Win 7 migration.




Technical Community - Background Reading


Windows 7 Migration Video Part 1 (2:43 mins): http://www.talktodell.com/resources/windows-7/?res=video-1
Windows 7 Migration Video Part 2 (4:03 mins): http://www.talktodell.com/resources/windows-7/?res=video-2
Windows 7 Migration Video Part 3 (4:07 mins): http://www.talktodell.com/resources/windows-7/?res=video-3
Essential Planning Steps for Windows 7 Migration (60 mins): http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=213694&s=1&k=C56A639464461022C0C297C2372E89B9&partnerref=OpenMic

URLs mentioned during the chat

Use Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 to assess hardware readiness for Windows 7 (and Office 2010)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx

Use Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.6 to get compatiblity information for your organizations software and to help you evaluate and mitigate compatibility issues before deploying Windows 7.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=24da89e9-b581-47b0-b45e-492dd6da2971&displaylang=en

<to be continued>

Chat Transcript



Dell-Jeff_S First of all, welcome to this week's edition of the DellTechCenter TechTuesday Chat!
Dell-Jeff_S This week's topic is Windows 7 Migration.
Dell-Jeff_S First, this is an open chat, so feel free to jump in with your questions at any time.
Dell-Jeff_S Today on hand we have Paul Thurrot – technology analyst of Benton media, who just so happened to have wrote the book we're giving away today.
Dell-Jeff_S Phil Dakas, a global solutions architect here at Dell.
Dell-Jeff_S And Ananth Narasimhan –marketing manager for client in our Large Enterprise division.
Dell-Jeff_S John Hibberd is also here from our field marketing services group.
Paul_Thurrott Put another way, a bunch of guys from Dell who know what they're talking about ... and me.
Dell-Jeff_S Is anyone out there looking to migrate to Windows 7?
ruan In pilot...
nz16 You bet...we love Windows 7.
choudeshell Well, before we would load up an image with all the software we needed for XP, we want to have a very basic stock image of Windows 7 and deploy the rest. How do you deploy stuff that isn't deployable when migrating to Windows 7?
lhundt Looking to do around SP1 (Service Pack 1).
Jimmy Up.
jgstew In process.
SeanS Yes, once we reach an agreement with Microsoft.
nz16 We have about two dozen users in a pilot...they love it and won't go back to Windows XP.
DanOCan I'm ready to pull the trigger on Windows 7 since the Beta stages. :)
Updequest Started out deployments already.
shanfont Slowly putting out Windows 7 PC's when we purchase new ones.
hausofkrause Part of state agency – waiting until next fall.
Paul_Thurrott First a bit on the SP1 mention.
Paul_Thurrott If you haven't heard about the timing for this one, Microsoft is currently planning to deliver SP1 in the first quarter of 2011, not by the end of 2010.
erson cloudeshell: I suggest you use MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit) 2010 (with SCCM if it's large deployment) and then deploy your applications either with that solution or entirely separately with SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager).
The_Real_ReedP I've helped with one and am about to start another locally (I hope).
Paul_Thurrott erson: Correct.
Paul_Thurrott Basically any of the standard deployment tools.
DanOCan Is there any real reason to wait for SP1 other than "that's what we did with previous Microsoft Operating Systems"?
Paul_Thurrott SCCM, DAD (Dell Automated Deployment), etc.
Paul_Thurrott dan: No.
Paul_Thurrott There are no new end user features in SP1 (in Windows 7).
DanOCan That's been my experience so far as well, Paul.
Dell_Ananth @choudeshell: There are many ways – mostly falling around the Electronic Software Distribution area – such as DAD, SCCM for large implementations and Dell KACE for smaller ones.
ruan We would normally wait for SP1 before deploying, but since we skipped Vista we're ready to go to Windows 7 without a Service Pack. The thing is rock solid.
Paul_Thurrott Yes, and from a deployment perspective, Windows 7 is in many ways equivalent to Vista SP3.
jgstew I've felt Windows 7 was solid and fast since the first beta, impressive.
Paul_Thurrott My big goal here today is to make sure you guys get off of Windows XP. :)
Dell_Ananth What is the effect of Microsoft's announcement of Windows XP downgrade extension on your organization's Windows 7 plans?
shanfont I would love to get off of Windows XP.
TJLocke We have a small rollout of Windows 7 with SBS2008 (Windows Small Business Server). This has been live for 6 months. Love Windows 7, but have found some incompatibilities with SBS2008, especially around the GPOs (Group Policies Object) and Windows Firewall. We are still working out the kinks.
ruan @paul_thurrot: You mean get off Windows 2000?
DanOCan Yeah. It kills me when I see our guys still deploying new PCs running Windows XP.
Paul_Thurrott *cough* Windows 2000? :)
hausofkrause Window 7 itself is not a issue for us waiting it is preparing/planning/budget for man hours.
jfield I deployed Windows 7 to 600+ PC’s last August; thank god I don't have any Windows XP machines left.
jgstew The extension of Windows XP hurts us indirectly, we have customers with no plans to move from Windows XP in the foreseeable future.
jfield That was not easy to convince my boss about, but was worth it.
Paul_Thurrott There was some news recently about Windows XP downgrade rights being extended....
lhundt Anyone run into migrating their users to Windows 7 64 bit from 32bit Windows XP? We are looking at heading straight to 64bit.
ruan Hey, don't laugh. I still have a couple of Windows ME VM’s. :-)
durkinr Agree with Krause, we have plenty of work already without migration to Windows 7.
Paul_Thurrott As you probably know, those with SA (Software Assurance) subscriptions can basically downgrade to anything (including Windows 95 if I'm not mistaken). This doesn't change any of that.
jfield lhundt: I went 32bit since I'm under 4GB on most of our PCs and there are a lot of older drivers I couldn't get, but if your hardware supports it, I've seen very little as far as software compatibility.
Updequest We are doing x64 from Windows XP x86. No real problems with that.
Jimmy We had to stay with the Windows 7 32 bit, because of the Exchange 2003 Ad tools issues.
Paul_Thurrott But it does apply to retail/PC bundles and could last until 2 years after the next version of Windows (Windows 8) ships.
Paul_Thurrott Anyone seeing major x64 upgrade issues?
jgstew No major issues going from Windows XP 32bit to Windows 7 64bit.
jfield I was disappointed with the news about the extension of the upgrade rights.
jfield It just encourages complacency and laziness.
ruan We have a couple of 3rd party applications not playing nice with x64, so we're staying on x86 for now.
wbeck The new hardware coming out seems to be driving 64bit migration for us.
Paul_Thurrott jfield: I think it was a bit overblown, but yeah. Hey, I wrote about it. How can you ignore it?
DanOCan No x64 issues, but our testing has been very limited and doesn't include any old crappy "in house" applications yet.
erson Tjlocke: Have you added the compatibility update and rollup for using Windows 7 with Windows SBS 2008?
jgstew Some minor issues with Old Adobe Acrobat STD/PRO.
erson Tjlocke: Right side of this page --> http://www.microsoft.com/sbs/en/us/windows7.aspx.
bluejay7 When migrating to Win7, what's the easiest/most cost-effective way to manage/monitor <25 desktops? Does Win7 include something already? I'm currently looking at Intune beta, but for 20 seats at $11/user it would end up being $2200 per year, which is over the top for a small business.
Paul_Thurrott Yeah, older Adobe applications are a classic one.
Dell_Ananth @lhundt : 64bit migration: Many people are looking to move to 64bit for high end computing needs.
TJLocke erson: Compatibility update? Did not know about this, what is it?
hausofkrause Won't we all be going the x64 in the next few years anyway?
Paul_Thurrott Intune will eventually come down to SB pricing / licensing but ... yeah. It’s too expensive.
durkinr Jimmy, you've probably already heard this, but you *could* use a VM running Win7 32bit for managing Microsoft Exchange 2003...that's how we do it. Combined with Hyena, it works great.
erson bluejay: System Center Essentials 2010 perhaps?
Dell_Ananth 64bit migration - issues associated with this migration are peripheral compatibility, which drives up costs.
Jimmy Yes, I think Windows 7 is the last 32bit OS, they should all be 64bit after this correct?
Paul_Thurrott Under 25 seats, you might look at SBS "Aurora" — public beta is on the 26th.
The_Real_ReedP If you are not seeing the need to go to Windows 7 and are under SA, drop a voucher or two to have a patent come in and do a Deployment POC. Best operating system for rolling out ever.
jfield I'm curious, for the people still on Microsoft Exchange 2003, what is the driving force behind staying on Microsoft Exchange 2003? Software compatibility issues, or are you just still on 32-bit server hardware?
jgstew Aurora sounds promising.
wbeck Agree with Dell_anath..u gotta, put money aside to upgrades users' peripherals.
lhundt Most of the server applications are 64bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 is only 64bit. This trend will continue to the desktop side, I predict.
Paul_Thurrott But...of course, that doesn't include any of the Email/SQL stuff. But purely from a PC management perspective, should be good.
Jimmy Jfield: Yes/yes. Plus our Microsoft Exchange servers are hosted and getting them upgraded is quiet the process.....
durkinr Bluejay, have you looked at Spiceworks?
Paul_Thurrott Penton is still on Exchange 2003 btw ... Luddites. :)
durkinr jfield: We are waiting for Exchange 2010 support from Enterprise Vault.
Master_Devwi Ouch. They need to upgrade.
bluejay7 Microsoft Server2003 — migrating means money — new server (64bit only). Looking at Aurora, could be good. But then I would need to find an alternate exchange solution – online hosted exchange or maybe Office Live Small Business.
erson Apparently the Windows 7 x64 installations so far is ~47%.
jgstew I've looked at Spiceworks, but did not get any further than looking.
Paul_Thurrott There is also a disconnect between Microsoft's hosted Exchange (and other servers) and the on-premise versions.
jfield I'm moving to virtualizing my Microsoft Exchange installation and moving to 2010 before summer is over.
durkinr There are always lagging vendors, and it seems Symantec is always one them...
jfield I couldn't be happier that I have abandoned every piece of Symantec software I used.
bluejay7 Also means repurchase of all licenses, so migrating away from Server 2003 gets expensive really fast,
jfield Yeah.
jfield I have an SA, so that’s not a big factor for me. The advantage of having zero licensing when I got to the job day one.
jgstew Anyone have a suggestion to replace Symantec Backup Exec desktop?
Paul_Thurrott It’s painful to upgrade an infrastructure server like Microsoft Exchange. I’m sure lack of momentum plays a role there.
Dell_Ananth Windows 7 migration - Have you started on Application Compatibility Testing? What have your greatest challenges been?
jfield jgstew: The built-in imaging stuff in Windows 7 is quite good.
jgstew Jfield: Need to take a closer look at that.
Paul_Thurrott Yeah, actually the backup and restore stuff in Windows 7 is surprisingly good.
erson jgstew: System Center Data Protection Manager 2010.
Paul_Thurrott That's another area where Microsoft SBS Aurora will help with smaller environments by they way.
durkinr Paul: Another factor is that when we upgrade to use DAG (Database Availability Group), you need 2 or 4 servers plus hardware load balancers...it complicates things for a small shop.
Emptyone If you have an EAS agreement, then you get DPM 2010 (Data Protection Manager) for "free" for all clients.
erson Microsoft SBS Aurora has client backup á la Windows Home Server.
Paul_Thurrott Durkinr: Yep.
jfield Dell_ananth: The biggest problem I've run into with Windows XP to Windows 7 migration regarding software is the crazy number of XP programs that assume they are running with admin permissions. That and unsigned software, which triggers UAC prompts (User Account Control). I understand why there isn't an exemption list for UAC, but it’s still frustrating at times.
Paul_Thurrott jfield. Yes. Classic issue.
durkinr Emptone, I don't recall ever hearing that, we have an EA.
DanOCan At least UAC is much less frequent than under Microsoft Vista.
bluejay7 I run Windows Home Server at home, so Aurora for the business looks like a no-brainer. Will Aurora be 64bit only? Or can I install it on my 32bit server 2003 box?
Emptyone Started from July 1st.
lhundt Anyone looking to retain the classic start menu look for their users? We found a cool application, http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/.
jgstew We are also having UAC issues, turning it off at the moment.
Paul_Thurrott So ... you can install application shims during the application remediation process to overcome much of that?
Paul_Thurrott Beyond that, of course, there are application virtualization solutions for the hardest applications.
jfield lhundt: Out of curiosity, why would you want to? Start menu search is great.
Eric Users don’t like change...
DanOCan lundt: We retained the Windows 2000 Start Menu in our Windows XP image, but I think it's time our users move into this century now.
erson Check Windows 7 application compatibility with: Act 5.6 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=24da89e9-b581-47b0-b45e-492dd6da2971&displaylang=en.
Jimmy But with Windows XP mode in Windows 7 it is like marinating two machines as far as windows updates/virus updates.
Paul_Thurrott jgstew: Turning it off in Windows 7?
jgstew I think the Start Menu search is the main productivity enhancement my users like.
erson To assess your hardware for Windows 7: Map 5.0 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx.
jfield Yeah, I mean, turning off functionality isn't something I like to do when a little training will do.
jgstew Yea, limited users instead of Administrators, turn off UAC.
Paul_Thurrott This is a bit older, but worth looking at as well.
Paul_Thurrott http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/confirmation.aspx?familyid=ee2a1d38-88a9-43b3-95bc-7e962f0b6030&displaylang=en.
DanOCan I figure most users will be getting the enhanced Windows 7 Start Menu when they buy new home machines anyway, so they may as well have it the same at work.
Paul_Thurrott Ebook, “Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine.”
erson To use when deploying: MDT 2010 Update 1 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd407791.aspx.
jfield Yeah I looked at ACT (Application Compatibility Toolkit) and I'm still learning it, but it seems like a sledgehammer for the relatively simple issue I have.
erson Dell Power Solution released their own Windows 7 Migration Guide --> http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/d/business~solutions~operating-systems~en/documents~windows7-migration-power-solutions-ezine.pdf.aspx.
The_Real_ReedP Sweet, thanks, Paul.
lhundt Well, we really wanted to retain a nice trick of implementing a menu system that points to a network share. We cannot do that in the native Windows menu. So instead of users going to Start --> Programs, we can control the applications by scripts on a custom menu.
Paul_Thurrott Well, as part of this, obviously consolidate not just applications, but application versions (again, older Adobe applications are a classic stoppage issue).
TJLocke To[Private] erson Thanks. Our network is live with Windows 7 and Windows SBS 2008 and one Windows XP client (my computer that I keep to run Windows XP applications). The issue I have encountered is that Windows SBS 2008 does not have Windows 7 'containers' when looking at the GPO structure. I can not get Windows SBS 2008 to reliably turn off Windows Firewall, and this gives me a problem with Symantec Endpoint Protection.
bluejay7 I've had issues running both Map 5.0 and Intune because of firewall stuff. I haven't found very good help on what to do with Windows Server 2003 to fix it, but those would both be great tools to look at machines to get a good picture of the network before taking on migration to Win7.
DanOCan Adobe Applications = "issue" in general it seems. :)
jfield Speaking of MDT, I've been deploying using WDS (Windows Deployment Services) and have had a great experience - what are the big benefits of going with MDT?
Paul_Thurrott Dano: Yes.
erson MDT 2010 is GUI on top of the deployment tools that the Windows team developed.
erson If you talk to any deployment specialist, MDT 2010 is a god send and is the thing to use.
hausofkrause Adobe Pro has issues with lic files in the profiles.
Paul_Thurrott Yeah, it's just a more complete set of tools really ... but also some interesting guidance.
The_Real_ReedP MDT streamlines the process and gives you more options.
Paul_Thurrott Speaking of which…
Paul_Thurrott MDT 2010 Update 1 came out last week, adding Office 2010 support.
jfield I'll need to check it out sometime, I just didn't have the time to learn something new when I was doing my Windows 7 deployment, since I had a very tight schedule.
erson For learning more about MDT 2010, I highly recommend http://www.deploymentcd.com/ and the book "Deployment Fundamentals: Deploying Windows clients using MDT 2010," which you can find on Amazon.
Dell_Ananth ** Marketing Alert ** http://www.talktodell.com/resources/windows-7/ - for more info.
jfield What I'm really trying to learn these days is Windows PowerShell.
erson Two Swedish MVPs on deployment wrote that book.
Paul_Thurrott MDT 2010 Update 1 info here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee376932.aspx.
jfield It seems wildly powerful, but trying to wrap my brain around everything it can do and how applets interact is not so easy.
erson A better entry point for MDT is http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd407791.aspx.
Dell-Jeff_S Since we've got around 45 people or so, looks like everyone is a winner today for Paul's book.
The_Real_ReedP The new quick starts are awesome and can get you up to speed quickly.
Dell-Jeff_S Here's the link for the survey to get your book Paul http://www.talktodell.com/go/tech-center-chat/.
erson If you are really into MDT 2010 (like me), I suggest you start stalking Michael Niehaus, who is the lead on MDT 2010 development --> http://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/.
erson Another good deployment blog is Johan Arwidmark’s at http://www.deployvista.com/.
erson
Paul_Thurrott		 Yeah, two fellow Swedish deployment MVPs wrote that book.
Dell needs to hire Erson, I think. :)
erson They are releasing at least two more.
erson
erson
Dell-ScottH
Dell-KongY		 Next one in October.
Paul: yeah, they keep telling me.
Have an open rec for him, but he won't move (errrr.. We won't pay for a move :-) )
@erson- what Scott said :)
choudeshell There was no shipping address on the survey.
Dell-Jeff_S FYI, those outside the US/Canada ignore the exclusion and go ahead and fill out the survey. Let me know if you have any issues getting the book (jeffrey_sullivan@dell.com).
The_Real_ReedP SDT - Swedish Deployment Therapy.
hausofkrause There are many sources that will walk you through the whole process. Going from a bit by bit copy type of imaging to MDT was a huge learning curve.
jfield Where is the survey link?
choudeshell Was there supposed to be a shipping address on the survey?
erson Ok, so the deployment pros say that we should use MAP, ACT, MDT 2010 Update 1 (with or without SCCM). What does Dell think we should use? (Reiterate what you suggest in the Dell Power Solutions Windows 7 Migration Guide that I linked earlier.)
Dell-Jeff_S Some confusion on the link... it is a physical book we have. http://www.talktodell.com/go/tech-center-chat/.
Dell_Ananth Win 7 secrets book: Please fill out the survey. The link does not have a place for getting your address. I'll send you an e-mail asking for the address and then send the book your way.
lhundt What Windows 7 features are you going to tell your users they should upgrade? A major feature of Windows XP for our users was Remote Desktop.
erson There are a couple of videos about MDT on TechNet Edge for those who prefer to watch videos. And again, the videos you can get from http://www.deploymentcd.com/ are excellent.
Paul_Thurrott Windows 7 is an odd release in that there isn't a single big “gotta-have-it” feature. But there are hundreds of little efficiencies that add up to a lot.
Dell_Ananth Sorry guys – about the confusion on the book. My bad. Please fill out the survey, and I'll get back to you with follow up on information – your address.
hausofkrause Niehaus has a walk through – very step by step for those who want a test bed to learn.
Paul_Thurrott Yeah, just make sure your e-mail address is there, right?
Dell_Ananth Yes, Paul.
durkinr One feature I like in Windows 7 is Libraries, but they aren't easy to customize. That could’ve been improved in Sp1. I wish Microsoft would go back to adding features in its service packs.
bluejay7 So there was a question above about MAP/MDT/ETC – “What does dell recommend?” I'm curious about the answer to that one too.
Paul_Thurrott I don't know. I think this is the right approach. Things were too different in each release for too long. Some predictability will be good.
erson I highly recommend the MDT book for anyone thinking of using it. It's a very no-nonsense book that clearly lays out what you should do. No fluff whatsoever.
Dell_Phil_Dakas As for what Dell recommends, it varies by customer, but in general we start with all of the standard MSFT tools.
bluejay7 For Window 7 libraries - will user folder on server automatically appear in documents library? Or is that something we'd have to set?
Dell_Phil_Dakas ACT is great to see if an application is compatible on an Operating System level.
erson Almost forgot.
Dell_Phil_Dakas As for MDT, SCCM, etc., it really depends on what you have in place currently.
jfield bluejay: If you use folder redirection, then links to the server stuff are added automatically.
erson A great guide is this from Mitch Tullotch --> http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/deploying-windows-7-part28.html.
erson I believe he is also a Deployment MVP.
jfield Though, curiously, when using Folder Redirection, both a local and a server My Documents exist, but only one is synced and contains files (and appear as the default one).
bluejay7 My network is Windows 2003 Server (SBS) and all Windows XP desktops.
hausofkrause I have the Mith site in my favorites – it is very handy.
Paul_Thurrott Agreed on M. Tullotch.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Do you have an ESD system in place currently? Do you package your application, streamlined imaging?
hausofkrause Let’s try Mitch.
pjurhs I just found the www.deploymentcd.com info the other day. We have been using SCCM 2007 SP2 R2 to deploy a Windows XP thin image. A thin image has improved our ability to change the image process on the fly. I have found it troublesome to apply the same process to Windows 7. It seems like you have to capture a reference image to successfully deploy Windows 7 with SCCM.
erson 28-part guide and one more part coming.
pjurhs Any hints that might speed up my development of a Windows 7 thin image without a reference image?
lhundt Does anyone redirect My Documents to a network share? The user sees their My Documents on any computer they log into at work. Has anyone tried this with Libraries?
jfield lhundt: I do.
bluejay7 We currently do redirection to server folder, so that's great.
erson The new approach to using thin and/or hybrid images with MDT 2010 is excellent. You can forget those golden images that you used to deploy with Symantec Ghost that were old one week after you created them.
piro Alternative is roaming profiles.
jgstew lhundt: No, but I am meaning to try this. Could try to add the server folder to the library as the default save location.
jfield It’s great because in Windows 7 (and Windows Vista I guess) you can redirect favorites and a couple other folders you couldn't under Windows XP.
bluejay7 Phil: ESD system? Was that question to me?
Dell_Phil_Dakas Agreed, thin images are always a good thing.
jfield So now my users IE favorites move from machine to machine seamlessly, which is a big deal for them.
pjurhs I could not find a good reason to do MDT with Windows XP, but it seems to be the way to go with Windows 7 from my research. Do you concur?
Dell_Phil_Dakas Bluejay: Yes, Electronic Software Distribution system, such as SCCM.
MM I just saw this from 4sysops to patch images http://imagepatcher.codeplex.com.
lhundt No profile syncing here.
bluejay7 No, we don't use anything like that.
erson pjurhs: It is for sure the best way to deploy Windows 7.
Dell-Jeff_S So everyone that just got here – hit action/recent room history to catch up on the conversation.
jfield The only reason that I didn't do MDT was that I've got some really grumpy old systems in my environment and I rarely update my image. It’s something I definitely want to do in the future though.
hausofkrause Any good sites for integrating MDT into SCCM?
jfield It’s funny to look at MDT and realize like 7 years ago I was using Symantec Ghost for this stuff.
erson pjurhs: The Windows 7 CD has a reference image on it. Really no need to customize it—you don't need to.
jfield What a nightmare.
Jim Had to install Java.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Best place for starting to look at a Windows 7 migration would be your applications.
Dell-Jeff_S For Paul's book, here is the link for the survey/registration: http://www.talktodell.com/go/tech-center-chat/ Put your e-mail in and Ananth will reach out and get your address to ship it to you.
jgstew I'm still using Symantec Ghost sadly, I do not have the time to think about anything else at the moment.
Dell_Ananth Windows 7 Secrets book: If you have trouble registering, please e-mail me anantha_narasimhan@dell.com .
Dell_Phil_Dakas Inventory, titling, rationalization.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Then you can move your business critical applications to testing.
erson hausofkrause: www.deploymentcd.com .
Dell_Phil_Dakas Most organizations are in the midst of testing their applications.
jfield Yeah I spent the entirety of the Windows 7 Beta doing application compatibility testing so I could deploy the release early—it really paid off.
durkinr Jgstew: We use Symantec Ghost too, Sysprep (System Preparation Tool), yadda yadda. Moving to MDT 2010 seems like it would be more flexible, so probably worth the pain...
erson Hmm, guys... I think I'll put all the links I've used in this chat in the header of transcript page.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Then don’t forget to consider a form of automated deployment.
Paul_Thurrott Too often with deployment plans, there is a lot of talk upfront and then very little actual work.
jgstew I agree, worth the pain, just need to do it.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Such as SCCM, Dell Automated Deployment, KACE, etc.
Master_Devwi Agreed.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Lots of people are staring to work on the applications and imaging.
jfield Yeah, I put my %%% on the line with our Windows 7 deployment, there was no way I was going to deploy without being sure everything was going to work.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Forget about automated deployment.
Paul_Thurrott I still have hope that the deployment talk on Windows 7 will turn into actual deployments. This didn't really happen with Windows Vista.
Dell_Phil_Dakas There are great tools and services available that will save a lot of effort.
Dell_Phil_Dakas We are starting to see a lot of traction. On a global level, Australia is leading the charge.
lhundt How soon is Windows 8 going to be released?
jfield I knew Windows 7 was worth deploying when I watched one of our Dell Optiplex Gx260s (1.8ghz p4, 1.5gb Ram) actually go into sleep mode, and then wake back up like it was supposed to.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Major companies that have been planning for a long time are deploying.
Paul_Thurrott Mid 2012 on Windows 8 (right now).
jfield They never did that under Windows XP, heh.
durkinr The Dell KACE appliance is a useful tool. I just wish you would modularize it so that I don’t have to use the all-or-nothing approach. For example, I don't need to integrate Helpdesk.
bluejay7 Btw - another thing holding up migrating from Microsoft Server 2003 is that we are using SBS and would rather wait for either newer version of SBS or Aurora.
jgstew Jfield: Amazing isn’t it ? Imaging an Operating System that works better on old hardware than the original, its great.
Dell_Phil_Dakas Dell KACE is neat, but yes it's all in one bundle.
COCODRILOSV W8 Sooner.
Dell_Ananth Windows 7 Secrets book: Please take the survey. I'll contact you for your address to send you the book. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Dell_Ananth Survey: http://www.talktodell.com/go/tech-center-chat/.
jfield The only problem I had with Windows 7 on was getting WDS to install the proper ancient video driver (we're talking Windows XP video drivers from like 2004-2005), but once I got past that it’s been great.
hausofkrause Our issues are mainly applications.
Dell-Jeff_S Wow, that hour went quick.
erson For those looking for a challenge (or just have big environment) look into using UDI/OSD with MDT+SCCM. I believe Dell used SCCM with OSD (then Modena).
Dell_Phil_Dakas Agreed Windows 7 on older Hardware works well, in general.
jgstew Yes, good point, video drivers have been a problem.
jgstew ATI legacy drivers have been an issue.
DanOCan I'm curious to know if other organizations who are doing deployments are pushing the deployment schedule as fast as possible or not. Historically we have rolled out the new operating system only when new hardware is deployed or a machine needs to be reloaded anyway.
jfield Its not that they don't work, it’s just that Windows 7 won't pick an older driver model when a newer one is available, so it tries to pick the SuperVGA driver.
Dell-Jeff_S It's about that time, our moderators have to drop, but the chat stays open.
Dell_Ananth Or e-mail me Anantha_narasimhan@dell.com for the Win 7 book. First 50 people will get the book.
erson I think a lot of companies are looking to pull a double whammy with Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010.
Paul_Thurrott I apologize for having to leave right at 5, normally would stay on. I am behind schedule on WP7 book and need to get as much done there today as possible. But thank you for joining.
Dell-Jeff_S Thanks everyone for attending today! Great turnout. Thanks Paul, Phil, Ananth, Jim for all the expertise!
Paul_Thurrott erson: Agreed on Windows 7 / Microsoft Office 2010.
The_Real_ReedP This may be the last desktop operating system many places will deploy. Next step is VDI, Clouds, handhelds running mobile software, such as Android, WM 7, etc
Paul_Thurrott Thanks everyone.
Master_Devwi Thanks for coming, Mr. Thurrott. Good luck finishing the book. I can't wait to read it!
jgstew We are pushing Windows 7 as fast as we can, even on old legacy hardware.
lhundt @danocan: That's how we will rollout most of our Windows 7 upgrades.
Dell_Ananth Win 7 Secrets book – co-authored by Paul Thurrott... http://www.talktodell.com/go/tech-center-chat/.
COCODRILOSV http://windows8news.com/