Download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Beta 2

The second Beta development milestone of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 is now available for download.

Early adopters interested in testing the technology need to join the MDT 2012 Beta program on Microsoft Connect.

MDT is a product of the Solution Accelerators team, with the software giant looking to ensure that large-scale desktop and server deployments can be completed as smooth as possible.

According to the Redmond company, customers will be able to leverage MDT 2012 Beta 2’s enhanced wizard in conjunction with System Center Configuration Manager 2012.

“MDT 2012 makes full use of the capabilities provided by System Center Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment. MDT 2012 integrates with configuration templates from the Security Compliance Manager (SCM) tool to ensure a secure Windows installation from the beginning of the deployment,” revealed Microsoft’s Michael Niehaus.

“Download the latest version of MDT and improve your deployment experience. Existing MDT users will find more reliability and flexibility with the many small enhancements and bug fixes and a smooth and simple upgrade process.”

Microsoft released the first Beta of MDT 2012 in June 2011, as some testers undoubtedly recall. Of course, existing participants of the MDT 2012 Beta Program will be automatically invited to access the latest bits.

In this regard, an important new addition to MDT is a new version of the User Driven Installation. The software giant launched the last UDI release with the availability of MDT 2010 Update 1.

There are a number of additional enhancements introduced in MDT 2012 Beta 2, according to Niehaus, such as:

“MDT 2012 offers integration with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) for Lite Touch Installation remote control and diagnostics. Beta users now also have the ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012.

“MDT 2012 offers improved support for Configuration Manager 2012 while still supporting Configuration Manager 2007. New monitoring capabilities for currently running deployments ease Lite Touch Installation through an improved deployment wizard user experience, and enhanced partitioning support ensures that deployments work regardless of the current structure.”