Virginia,

We have a done of them on Springboard. Go to www.microsoft.com/springboard and click on Deployment.

Will Microsoft be releasing tech support (Tips & Tricks) streams on how to process the migration process to Windows 7 Pro/Ent and Server 2008 R2?  

W7_4_LF, When using OS deployment tools, (like MDT and SCCM)you would also want to use USMT, the User State Migration Tool. This is a scriptable tool and has been around for quite a while, but has a signifigant update to locally retain settings. USMT can identify your user state, settings, documents and settings, and isolate them on the HD, so that during the installation of Windows 7, they all get put back where they belong. This saves a great deal of time, you dont have to completely back them up and then restore them for the OS installation process. The requirement is that you leave the HD intact and are staying on the same computer. If you are formating or replacing the HD, or moving to another computer, you will still need a backup drive or network to store your data. There is a user friendly consumer version as well called Windows Easy Transfer. You can use this to backup your data to an external HD or PC to PC with a special USB cable. One final note, If you happen to do a fresh installation over Windows XP or Windows Vista, Windows 7 will move the user state to a Windows.OLD directory that retains all your files and settings. You can restore those to Windows 7 and be back in business.

C.A., 200 applications sounds like a lot of manual effort,and it is, so I can tell you are frustrated. It sounds like you should look at more automated tools to help you. If you were to use the task sequencer that it built into the Solution Accelerator Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and System Center Configuration Manager, you can build some intelligence into your deployment and detect the applications needed prior to the OS reload. MDT and SCCM do this automatically with drivers, but applications will require some time and scripting experience. We always recommend a clean OS install, so you achieve optimal performance. If your base image has already been created with Windows Vista and contains your default app load, you can update that image to Windows 7 and not have to re-install everything again.

I am really tired of having to do a clean install every time a new OS comes out and them spending days of reinstalling 200+ apps.

Will Windows 7 really update or just call it an update again?

Tony, What 3 things should you think about from an Infrastructure standpoint before going to Windows 7?

1. Invest the time to test your applications for compatibility and involve your endusers. Testing will save you time during the deployment and your users will feel empowered by being key to the process.

2. Use the Microsoft Solution accelerators. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit will allow you to check all of your systems to ensure they can run Windows 7 efficiently. Use the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit to automate the creation of your Windows 7 image. MDT can save you hours of build time by automating the process. You can also use it to deploy Windows 7 if you dont have a systems management solution in place.

3. Examine your other corporate initiatives to help justify the deployment of Windows 7. Security is a great example. With everyone concerned about data loss, and liabilty, it is possible your organization is looking at ways to protect itself. Direct Access, Bitlocker and Bitlocker to Go are great ways secure your systems, reduce costs by not having to purchase additional tools and involve the entire organization in the deployment so it becomes a company wide strategic initative.

Sogeti has a whitepaper on our website to help you get started: http://us.sogeti.com/win7

Can these tools be used to move my Windows XP systems to Windows 7 in-place and let my users keep their data local?

Great piece. Good Advice. We are on XP. What three things should we think about from a infrastructure standpoint before going to Windows 7?