Kit Speeds Windows 7, Office 2010 Tests

A free Proof-of-Concept Jumpstart Kit uses virtualization to help organizations evaluate Windows 7 and Office 2010 features and deployment. The kit will be most useful for small to midsize organizations that are not familiar with the latest Microsoft deployment tools and that do not have a dedicated lab where they can perform evaluation or deployment testing. Although using the kit may convince an organization to deploy the new products, a successful deployment will still require additional testing and planning.

The kit is delivered as a series of compressed files that can be downloaded. These compressed files expand into a virtual hard disk (VHD) that encapsulates a Windows Server 2008 Enterprise virtual machine (VM) configured with the necessary OS and application deployment tools. The VM can be run using Virtual PC 2007 on Windows XP, Virtual PC on Windows 7, or Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008. (For an illustration of the tool, see “Jumpstart Kit Deployment Tools“.)

Assessment tools included in the kit help an organization determine whether the computers and software deployed in their organization are capable of running the latest versions of Windows and Office. Assessment tools preinstalled on the server include the following: