This is the second article in my series about the Vista v. Windows XP issue. In my last post I replied to an InfoWorld article by Randall C. Kennedy, who claimed that Vista did not really improve security. Today I will discuss Vista’s new capabilities regarding manageability. The text in italics summarizes Kennedy’s view.

Vista has a couple of features that improve its manageability, such as the ability to restrict access to external media devices, easy deployment of printer drivers and, most noteworthy, the image-based installation. However, myriad third-party tools also offer those features for Windows XP. That’s why moving to Vista provides little or no ROI from a systems management perspective.

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Microsoft’s Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 is mostly for bigger companies that have to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Vista. I have downloaded it before, but I found it too complex for a quick look. Some days ago, I stumbled across a post in the vista4beginners blog that seemed to have a solution for a UAC problem I had before. It describes how to disable UAC prompts for certain applications only. Unfortunately, it did not really work as I expected. But, at least, it made me play with the Compatibility Administrator which belongs to the Compatibility Toolkit.

This tool is quite interesting and it might be helpful if you have an application that is not running properly under Vista. Basically, you use the tool to configure how Vista treats a certain legacy application. For example, you can tell Vista not to use its virtualization mechanism when a legacy app tries to write in forbidden areas. There are countless other settings.

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As I write this, more than 1500 have taken part in my poll about Vista deployment. It is no secret that Vista isn’t really a success among corporate customers. However, I must admit, I am a bit surprised by the results of this poll.

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Microsoft Deployment, the next version Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, is finally available at Microsoft’s Download Center. A description of all new features can be found here. Most noteworthy certainly is the integration in Configuration Manager. I’d say we running out of excuses for not deploying Vista. Yeah okay, you still have Vista SP1. Good that Microsoft will release it only next year.

You can now download Deployment 4 Beta 3, the next version of BDD 2007, at Microsoft Connect. You will need this invitation ID: BDDP-QMYH-VWTH. Deployment 4 is a must-have tool for Windows Vista/XP and Windows Server deployment. The new version has a couple of interesting new features.

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These days, I often read that Vista skeptics are gaining the upper hand. For example this PC World article cites a Patchlink survey according to which 87 percent of businesses would stay with their existing operating system. And Chris Pirillo even believes that “Windows Vista loses users” to the arch-enemy Mac OS.

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Microsoft released an update rollup for the “Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment 2007“. What a product name! BDD 2007 comes with a collection of documentations about Windows deployment. It is also a kind of workbench allowing you to use the most important Microsoft deployment tools and tool sets such as the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) with one central GUI.

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It seems that Microsoft fixed the bug in the setup program of the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) now. I blogged about it sometime ago. It is again available as a separate download. The WAIK deployment guide can be found here.

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VAMT is an important tool if you plan to activate Vista using MAK keys instead of working with KMS. I just saw it now, but it has been available for three days, already. The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment solution Accelerator is an inventory, assessment, and reporting tool which allows you to determine if the computers in your network are Vista-ready.

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On Tuesday, I downloaded the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). I am not sure since when it became already available, but it was not before Monday. Now, it seems that Microsoft removed it from the Web. The reason probably is that its setup program contains a bug.

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Update: Microsoft removed the WAIK download.
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) is now available for download. It contains all important tools for deploying Windows Vista: ImageX, Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM), Windows PE, and many more. The DVD image also contains the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) and the WinPE Language Packs.

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BDD 2007 is an essential tool and documentation set for deploying Windows Vista. Almost two months after the release of the business edition of Vista, its final version is finally ready for download. BDD 2007 contains important tools like ImageX and Windows System Image Manager (WSIM). I’ve been writing about some of the tools before. Please check out the Related section below.

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British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) warns (PDF) British schools and colleges from deploying Vista and Office 2007. In their interim report, they concluded that Vista and Office 2007 don’t have must-have features that would justify their early deployment. In my opinion, their estimation neglects some important factors.

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Some days ago I wrote about the limited support of SMS 2003 SP2 for Windows Vista. Today, I deployed Vista in my testing environment using the OS Deployment Feature Pack for SMS 2003 SP2. My experiences are comparable to the first part of my test.

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Windows Connected has six useful tips for admins dealing with Vista’s new imaging technology: Script Everything, Automate Your Installs, Virtual Machines make it easy, Minimize Drivers in your reference Image, Keep a build document, Hardware.

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