Windows Vista was built from the ground up to simplify how people work together

Feb 20, 2007 15:07 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft announced the availability of six free deployments tools designed to expedite migration to Windows Vista, approximately three weeks following the release of the operating system. Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0, the Volume Activation Management Tool, the Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003 and Virtual PC 2007 are the tools the Redmond Company is offering as free downloads.

"Broadly deploying a new Windows client operating system starts with a testing and planning process, followed by a significant investment in time and effort to roll out the new solution," said Al Gillen, research vice president for System Software at IDC. "The tools Microsoft has delivered with Windows Vista will help customers save time and reduce effort both in the planning process and in the deployment phase."

"Windows Vista was built from the ground up to simplify how people work together, find information, reduce IT costs, improve security and enable mobile environments," said Shanen Boettcher, general manager of Windows Client Product Management at Microsoft. "With the availability of these new tools, there is nothing holding back businesses from making the move to Windows Vista and immediately taking advantage of those benefits." With this set of six tools, Microsoft has covered all the aspects of Windows Vista migration, from assessment to planning, testing and deployment.

Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment 2007 includes both guidelines and tools for deploying Windows Vista and the Office 2007 System.

Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 is designed to lend a helping hand with the detection of potential application compatibility issues during Vista deployments.

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 will evaluate the hardware resources available for migrating to Windows Vista.

Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0 tools contain the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) and the Key Management Service (KMS) for Windows Server 2003 to handle volume activations of multiple Windows Vista-based PCs.

And last but not least, Virtual PC 2007 has been optimized for Windows Vista, delivering support as both the host and guest operating system.