Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Released to Manufacture!
Thursday, 23 July 2009
A special message from Deeps
We have reached an important milestone today with the Release to Manufacture of both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. You have told us what you wanted and we have listened, building the new features around your feedback concentrating on the “fundamentals”. The RTM code will be delivered to our partners within the next few days. Find out
when you’ll be able to get the RTM of Windows 7. You may also want to think about getting yourself a
TechNet Plus Subscription as the RTM will be available for subscribers on the 6th of August. Thanks again to all of those who helped us in the testing process of Windows 7, what an amazing ride it’s been!
Deeps.
Hi there,
Jeffa here. With Tech•Ed Australia coming up – and each paid delegate receiving a
HP Mini 2140 Notebook PC (AKA Netbook) – I’ve been asked to choose what image is deployed to these machines. It’s my job to decide on what software is in and what is out. Sounds easy right? Well, it’s actually quite complicated...
Deployment made easier
So, what technology are we using for such a deployment? We’ve aimed to use the freely available tools from Microsoft (below), so after Tech•Ed you can use them for your own internal deployments of Windows 7.
•
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Beta 2 – Create the images, task sequences and lay the images down to the machines themselves.
•
Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) – In conjunction with MDT, create custom answer files for the deployment itself.
•
Windows Deployment Services – Use WDS in Windows Server 2008 R2 to test image deployment and build images.
•
Windows OEM Pre-Install Kit (OPK) – Create the OOBE experience for delegates.
•
SYSPREP – Test image capture.
•
WIM2VHD – Convert captured images to VHD format, so teams can test the latest image without having one of the Netbooks themselves.
Want to know what’s included?
The list won’t be finalised until early August, but so far it’s looking like this:
• Windows 7 Ultimate RTM code (we hope!)
• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Windows Live Essentials
• Silverlight 3.0
• .NET Framework 4.0 Beta
• Various Themes
• Search Connectors
• RSS Feeds
• Favourites
That’s all for now, but you can follow my blog – my Twitter hash tag is
#auteched, or check out the
Tech•Ed Backstage site for more details.
Until next time,
Jeffa
