Installing Win7 using a USB Stick

The below video shows, how you can install Win7 on notebooks. Which do not normally come with a DVD Drive. The video shows you how to prepare a USB drive with the installation bits and install from it.

Go through the Video in Below Link:

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Installing-Win7-using-a-USB-Stick/

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)

Overview:

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) helps IT professionals improve control of their desktop environments with a comprehensive set of tools to help IT professionals move their organization’s desktop strategy from a basic infrastructure maturity level to a dynamic maturity level. This document provides a basic technical overview of the tools included in MDOP. A discussion on how each tool helps organizations move through the infrastructure optimization model is also provided so that IT professionals and managers can better understand how MDOP can benefit the organization as a whole.

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows XP

Download the Guide in below link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=bf5c4b63-b484-4003-9343-f497fc8c9fb3&displaylang=en

See a Video Overview:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/videos/mdop_sa.asx

Windows 7 Feature Walkthroughs

Explore the new and updated features in Windows 7, from AppLocker to the Problem Steps Recorder, with short video screen casts in below link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/hi-in/windows/dd320282(en-us).aspx

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP)

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning is an agent less toolkit that will find computers on a network and perform a detailed inventory of the computers using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), the Remote Registry Service, or the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The data and analysis provided by this toolkit can significantly simplify the planning process for migrating to Windows Vista®, Microsoft Office 2007, Windows Server® 2008, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 (formerly SoftGrid), Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Online Services, Forefront and Network Access Protection, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, and Virtual Server 2005 R2. Assessments for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista also include device driver availability and recommendations for hardware upgrades that may be required.
MAP includes features for gathering performance metrics from computers you are considering for consolidation using Hyper-V in addition to Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2. Using the performance metrics and a model virtual server host computer, you can generate reports that recommend placement of the physical servers in a virtual server environment. Other new reports include a Security Center Assessment for client computers, a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 inventory report as well as an enhanced virtual machine inventory report to help you assess your virtualization efforts to date. MAP incorporates the assessment features provided by the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator, including localization of the Windows Vista assessment reports in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

System Requirements:

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows XP Professional Edition
  

• Hardware Requirements:
  

>1.6-GHz or faster processor minimum (dual-core for Windows Vista)

> 1.5 GB of RAM minimum (2.0GB for Windows Vista)

> 1 GB of available hard-disk space required

>10/100 Mbps network adapter required

• Software Requirements: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition for storing inventory and assessment data. Microsoft Word 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Excel 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Excel 2007 for generating reports..NET Framework v3.5SP1,Windows Installer v4.5


• CPU Architecture: The Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit can be installed on 32-Bit and 64-bit versions of any of the supported operating systems.
  

For more Details:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx
For Downloading MAP Toolkit:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=67240b76-3148-4e49-943d-4d9ea7f77730&displaylang=en

Download Windows7 Beta

What is Windows7

Windows 7 is the next release of the Windows client operating system, built on the secure foundation of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Performance, reliability, security, and compatibility are core tenets of this release as we collect your feedback to meet our engineering goals of making Windows 7 the best-performing and most stable Windows operating system to date. Innovations in the product are, designed to augment your ability as an IT professional to better provision and manage increasingly mobile PCs, protect data, and improve both end-user and personal productivity.

Windows7 beta (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) version is available for you to download now. Please Install and look at some of the new features and functionality of Microsoft’s new Operating System, how powerful and good it is for you and your Environment.

You have two Beta versions for this to download
32-bit (x86) Beta software
64-bit (x64) Beta software

To Download from Microsoft (Beta Download available till 10th Feb 09)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd353205.aspx
Scroll down; you will be able to see below screen,

Select appropriate version, you need to register for Microsoft TechNet (Already a registered user, please login with your TechNet ID)
Note: It is an ISO format, total size of 2.54GB.

Catching Features of Windows 7
Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, and kernel improvements. Adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors, a new version of Windows Media Center.
Many new items have been added to the Control Panel including: Clear Type Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, Action Center, and Display. "Windows Security Center" has renamed as "Windows Action Center" (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds) which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.

Removed features

While Windows 7 contains many new features, a number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. The following is a list of features that were present in Windows Vista but have been removed in Windows 7
-->Several Start menu and taskbar features including:
Floating Deskbands (was deprecated in Windows Vista, now desk band can be only pinned to taskbar)
------>Windows Media Player Toolbar (replaced with the new Jump list feature)
------>Pinning default Internet Browser and E-mail client software programs on Start menu by default (programs can be manually pinned)
-->Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail, and Windows Calendar (in favor of downloading or using online the free respective Windows Live counterparts, which lack some features)
-->Software Explorer feature of Windows Defender
-->Removable Storage Manager (RSM)(applications dependent on it, such as NTBackup or the NTBackup Restore Tool, cannot run)
-->Windows Meeting Space
-->InkBall, a game
-->The numeric keypad from On-Screen Keyboard
-->Microsoft Agent 2.0 Technology
-->Windows Sidebar (Gadgets remain, sitting freely on the Desktop)
-->Windows Ultimate Extras

Hardware requirements