Project:Sandbox

Your Windows 7 Deployment Guide

Depending on the size of your enterprise, the complexity of deploying Windows 7 ranges from fairly simple to insanely complex. For Microsoft's own deployments, the task has been falling closer to the latter description. However, using System

Center, Configuration Manager 2007's Operating System Deployment (OSD) feature and the soon-to-be-released Service Pack 2 (SP2) can greatly simplify the process. No matter where your enterprise falls on the complexity spectrum, you can use the Microsoft blueprint to move your enterprise to Windows 7 sooner rather than later.

This article describes how the Microsoft team approached deploying Windows 7 to our own enterprise. It covers how we developed our Windows 7 deployment solution and how you can apply these same tools to simplify your

Understanding Enterprise Desktop Deployment Scenarios

The first step, of course, is assessing the requirements and scenarios needed to accomplish a wide distribution of a new OS. Unlike applications that are delivered to the desktop, operating systems pose a significant risk to users' productivity and data. Thus, you often spend a great deal of time trying to ascertain the current state of affairs and attempting to minimize risks while finding the sweet spot. That's especially the case at Microsoft, where the target is 280,000-plus desktops.