14 DAY TRIAL // In late 2007, trying to beat the business versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007 to the market, Microsoft was hard at work on the development of a solution accelerator designed to centralize all the tools and guidance necessary for the deployment of its latest flagship products. According to the Redmond company, the Business Desktop Deployment 2007 enables the download planning, building and technical guidance, templates and scripts to streamline Vista and Office 2007 deployments. Since the initial release of BDD 2007, focus shifted from Microsoft's main cash cows to additional products, and especially to the server-side. Now Deployment 4 Beta 3 is available for download.
"Deployment 4 is the code name for the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007 and unifies the tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment into a common deployment console and collection of guidance. For the thousands of IT professionals already trained on BDD 2007, Deployment 4 requires minimal extra training to perform large-scale Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 deployments, while offering a further enhanced desktop deployment experience. Deployment 4 adds integration with recently released Microsoft deployment technologies to create a single path for image creation and deployment," revealed Alves Arlindo, Microsoft Belgium IT Pro Evangelist.
Microsoft initially delivered Deployment 4 Beta 3 to Windows Server 2008 Beta and TAP programs, but the solution accelerator can also be accessed as an open beta download. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Operating System Deployment; Windows Automated Installation Kit; Windows Deployment Services with new multicast technology; Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0; User State Migration Tool 3.0.1 and Windows Server 2008 Server Manager for automated server role definition are among the deployment technologies integrated in Deployment 4 Beta 3. Microsoft underlined the fact that the resource is tailor fitted on deployment scenarios involving Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003.
"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," Arlindo added.
You will be able to download Deployment 4 Beta 3 of Business Desktop Deployment 2007 here.