Microsoft rolls out enterprise Vista migration tools

Microsoft has introduced six enterprise deployment tools designed to help ease the pain of Windows Vista migration.

The recently released tools are Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007; Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0; Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0; Volume Activation Management Tool; Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003; and Virtual PC 2007.

"Broadly deploying a new Windows client OS 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 Vista will help customers save time and reduce effort in the planning process and the deployment phase."

Customers that have been using pre-release versions of these tools along with earlier pre-release versions of Vista can now move to the final versions to complete their deployment process.

BDD 2007 is a set of guidelines and tools designed to help organisations deploy Vista and Office 2007 to desktops. 

The software includes single-image engineering and deployment capabilities, user-state migration tools, remote deployment tools and integration with other Microsoft deployment products such as Systems Management Server 2003.

ACT 5.0 helps businesses deal with application compatibility issues encountered when moving to Vista. 

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment solution accelerator indicates which PCs can be upgraded to Vista and the resources required to complete the process. 

The Volume Activation Management Tool enables IT managers to automate and centrally manage the volume activation process using a Multiple Activation Key. 

Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003 enables business customers to host a local service within their environment used during the Vista activation process without sending information to Microsoft. 

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