Windows Vista Team Blog : Beta Testing

Just Released: Deployment 4 Beta 3 - The Next Generation of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007

Jeremy — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:49:00 GMT

Deployment insiders probably saw this coming, but the recent Beta release of Deployment 4 is a huge step in unifying the converging tools and procedures to image and automate installation of both desktops and now servers in a single console. For current BDD 2007 users, this means with very little extra effort you are ready to create images and deploy Windows Server 2003 and pre-release versions of Windows Server 2008 using the Deployment Workbench. Deployment 4 also integrates with the new System Center Configuration Manager 2007 features for OS deployment and task sequencing. Speaking of task sequences, the Deployment 4 has shifted focus from builds to task sequences, making deployments more flexible and aligning to the way System Center Configuration Manager 2007 performs OS deployment. And as if that wasn't enough, Deployment 4 leverages the new multicasting functionality coming in Windows Server 2008 Windows Deployment Services. Multicasting dramatically reduces network bandwidth by instead of passing a 4 GB image individually to each targeted computer, it can pass that same 4 GB image to multiple computers simultaneously.

Deployment 4 Beta 3 combines the guidance and toolset from previous releases of Business Desktop Deployment and Beta releases of Windows Server Deployment. This release continues to support Zero Touch Installation (ZTI) of desktop operating systems using Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 with the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack and adds new deployment and task sequencing capabilities for desktops and servers using System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Deployment 4 also continues to provide Lite Touch Installation (LTI) support without infrastructure requirements and adds capabilities for Windows Server 2003 and pre-release versions of Windows Server 2008.

New Features in Deployment 4 Beta 3

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 support, with the following features:

· Full support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 deployments with Deployment 4 and Configuration Manager 2007.

· Complete integration into the Configuration Manager 2007 admin console and task sequencing capabilities.

o Quick start Configuration Manager 2007 operating system deployments using one wizard to create needed task sequences and packages.

o Extends the Configuration Manager 2007 task sequencing capabilities with new actions.

· Feature parity with BDD 2007 and SMS 2003, including dynamic package installation, automatic determination of state store location, computer backup, database settings.

Lite Touch Installation (LTI) support for Windows Server 2008:

· Support for deploying Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 and potentially RC0 (to be verified after RC0 release), including support for Server Core installation options. (Windows Server 2008 TAP customers only.)

Lite Touch Installation (LTI) enhancements:

· Enhanced disk and network interface cards (NICs) configuration options, including support for static TCP/IP configuration.

· Design changes to ease the migration from LTI to Configuration Manager 2007.

· Support for multiple task sequence templates. New sample templates include:

o Client template: Windows Vista, Windows XP

o Server template: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008

o Replace scenario template

· Ability to invoke web service calls

o Support for web service calls from rules

o Web services can be invoked as part of the rules processing performed by Deployment 4, using new rules that can be defined in CustomSettings.ini.

· Support for side-by-side installation with Deployment 4 and BDD 2007 installed on the same machine.

Lite Touch Installation (LTI) multicast support:

· Deployment Workbench supports multicast transmission of operating system images when performing LTI deployments from Windows Server 2008 servers that are running Windows Deployment Services.

Enhanced Beta Program on Microsoft Connect

This Beta release also offers an enhanced Microsoft Connect portal including technical frequently asked questions, deployment tips and tricks, a recommended 10-step program for new users to quickly get acquainted with deployment accelerators, customer-ready Solution Accelerator informational materials, and deployment-related conference presentations.

Where to find Deployment Beta 3

To join the Deployment 4 Beta 3 program, follow these steps:

1) Visit the Microsoft Connect Web site (http://connect.microsoft.com).

2) Click Invitations on the Connect menu.

3) Sign in using a valid Windows Live ID to continue to the Invitations page.

4) Enter your Invitation ID in the box. Your invitation ID is: D4B3-RFC6-99CW

5) Click Go.

If you have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect, you might be required to register before you continue with the invitation process.

Give us your feedback!

Our mission is to make typically complex deployment projects as easy as possible. Based on customer feedback we have released things like the 19-page Quickstart Guide for BDD 2007 and provided the current enhanced Microsoft Deployment Connection Beta site to catalog and highlight technical implementation content. We have also provided informational content in the Beta program for those new to deployment accelerators. We are always refining what we deliver and how we deliver content based on your feedback.

Jeremy

Solution Accelerators Team

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment v2.0 Beta Program Now Open!

Baldwin Ng — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:28:00 GMT

Good news! The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment v2.0 Beta Program is now open for registration! Please join our beta program and test drive new features including OU-targeting, machine names import, localized UI/readiness reports and more.

Visit the Microsoft Connect site to join: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88282

For those of you who are not familiar with Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, it is basically a network-wide PC readiness assessment tool that helps organizations understand their readiness to migrate to Windows Vista. It provides organization-wide reports on hardware compatibility, device compatibility, upgrade recommendations and more. The coolest part is that this tool does not require any software agents to be installed on individual computers.

Visit our TechNet Web Page and download the tool (v1.0) today at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=83405

Baldwin Ng (baldwin.ng@microsoft.com)

Sr. Product Manager, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator

Microsoft's Adoption of Windows Vista

James Senior — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:20:00 GMT

Dogfooding was a new term to me when I joined Microsoft. I quickly learnt what it meant as I was immersed in beta testing the latest builds of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System. So what is dogfooding? Here's what Wikipedia says about Dogfooding:

To say that a company "eats its own dog food" means that it uses the products that it makes. For example, Microsoft emphasizes the use of its own software products inside the company. If a company were to use a competitor's products for its own day-to-day business, it could be disparaged for "not eating its own dog food"; this would seem to show a lack of confidence in its own wares, and would send a negative message to its customers.

So why dogfood? Well according to Microsoft IT we dogfood for the following reasons:

Simulate the customer’s business user experience
Ensure product readiness
Gain enterprise experience
Conduct compatibility testing for 3rd party and LOB applications
Validate product value
Develop and test training materials
Prepare partners and Microsoft Support Customer Care
Develop and document best practices for customer use: IT Showcase and Everyday Productivity Education (EPE) Guides

Microsoft IT released some stats yesterday on internal use of Windows Vista, 2005 Microsoft Office System and other beta products which have been RTM'd, or are soon to be RTM'd. The number of machines we had running the beta software is quite impressive as the graphs below show:

Microsoft employees do so much dogfooding that many of the bugs are fixed before our customers get to test the product itself. We make a great team when combined with our large number of public beta testers and together ensure that the software is as reliable and stable as possible. I know that I submitted quite a few bugs and I was always pleased with how responsive and thorough the developers were when they contacted me about my issues. We recently said thank you to our public beta testers by giving them a free copy of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition for all the hard work they put in – we really do appreciate it!

Application Compatibility

What about application compatibility? Well, as you would imagine we've been running many different applications on Windows Vista and testing how they function to ensure that customers have a seamless upgrade experience when moving from Windows XP to Windows Vista. The test results are fed back into the Application Compatibility Toolkit which customers can use to check which of their applications will work on Windows Vista.

Lessons Learned

It's important we share what we've learned along the way so you can learn from our experiences. The three areas highlighted by Microsoft IT were:

Streamlined Deployment – Windows Deployment Service works with the Windows Vista Image format (WIM) to deliver out-of-the-box domain join and user addition to the admin group with no custom scripting.
Reduced Maintenance Overhead – Windows Vista installs on desktop, laptop, and tablet machines from the same WIM. Language packs are a component of the WIM, configurable from Windows Vista setup and allow image to be “localized” at install time.
Reduced Training Cost – The Enterprise Learning Framework (ELF) provides clear guidance for what help and training content is applicable for each deployment phase. Microsoft IT’s Everyday Productivity Education team provides templates to get this content to enterprise clients.

More Resources

Find out more about how Microsoft rolled out Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007

Download the productivity Guides

Find out how the Enterprise Learning Framework can help plan your product training

Where in the World Are Our Beta Testers?

Nick White — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 04:04:00 GMT

Windows Test Manager Paul Donnelly just sent the mail below to Beta testers at connect.microsoft.com, and I was so fascinated with the maps he's generated representing where Windows Beta testers are located, I thought I'd share it with you:

I'm sure you've noticed people here in the newsgroups from all over the globe. When we put this program together one of our goals is diversity that closely mirrors that of our customers as much as possible. We've hit all our targets and have a truly global program. I realize only a fraction of people are active in the newsgroups and you never get to interact with and learn about most testers. The below will help you get an idea of where we get feedback from and where Windows Vista is being tested. The below represents just the Technical Beta Program and is current as of 2 weeks ago.

Interesting facts:

We have approximately 30,000 Vista Beta testers in this program now.
There are Windows Vista beta testers in 125 countries.
We have testers in all 50 U.S. States, Puerto Rico, Guam and several other U.S. locations.
Exactly 50% of our testers are somewhere other than the U.S.
The northernmost person appears to be in Fairbanks, Alaska at 64.85 degrees N. latitude though it's a close call with a person in Iceland.
The southernmost person appears to be in the Kerguelen Islands at 49.56 degrees S latitude.
We have 1 person on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.
We also have a person in the Tuamoto archipelago which is almost exactly half-way between South America and Australia.
If we had someone in the Yukon and someone in Labrador/Newfoundland we would have all Canadian provinces and territories represented.
In the U.S. we have testers in over 6,000 zip codes, or well over 10% of all zip codes in the U.S.

Notes:

We do not have street address granularity in some parts of the world. In that case pushpins appear at the postal code, city or province levels and all testers in that set will cluster at 1 pushpin.
There is a roughly 15% failure rate for pushpin creation due to the complexities of matching addresses globally.
I kept most [map images] at 1024x768 but a couple are larger for more detail.
I created these using Microsoft MapPoint 2006. You can find more info here.

View of the World

North America

Canada - West

Canada - East

United States

United States - Atlantic States

United States - Midwest

United States - North Central

United States - Northeast

United States - Pacific Northwest

United States - South Central

United States - Southeast

United States - Southwest

United States - Alaska

United States - Hawaii

Europe

Europe

Benelux and Germany

UK

Scandinavia

Asia

China

Japan and Korea

Down under:

Australia

New Zealand

Other Areas:

Pacific Ocean

Caribbean

Central America

South America

Middle East

Africa

It's pretty cool to see that we've got so much of the world represented by our testers!