Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is a solution accelerator designed to streamline the deployment of the latest technologies from the Redmond company. The next generation of the solution is currently cooking over at Microsoft, with a fresh release available for download. The company is offering version 4.0 of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit via Connect in Beta stage. With version 4.0, the tool has evolved and is now tailored to the upcoming Windows client and server operating systems. In this regard, among the supported platforms, MAP Toolkit 4.0 Beta comes with support for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V for Windows Server 2008 R2.

“Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 4.0 is an integrated planning toolkit that makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment. This agentless and scalable toolkit has the ability to discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments. It performs key functions that include hardware and device inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies,” revealed a member of the MAP team.

According to the software giant, in excess of 680,000 customers have downloaded and run the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit ahead of the release of version 4.0 Beta. In addition to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 hardware and device compatibility assessment, the tool is designed to integrate with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator. At the same time, version 4.0 is capable of performing an inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests in an IT environment. With the latest release, Microsoft has also opened up the graphical user interface for partner customization and co-branding. And last but not least, version 4.0 is designed to bring to the table a new level of usability and performance when it comes to its inventory capabilities.