Planning Tools, Docs for Windows 7

Free planning tools and documents, including the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit and Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) documents, can help organizations prepare to deploy Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Hyper-V, as well as Windows Vista and Office 2007. MAP finds computers on a network; compiles hardware, driver, and software inventories; and then determines whether the computers are ready to run the latest versions of Windows or Office. Detailed reports show what needs updating. The new IPD documents define major technical and business decisions and outline available architectural options for deployment of Windows Server 2008 R2 roles and features.

Compatibility Assessments

MAP runs on a single, networked computer—the inventory computer—and uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to inventory up to 100,000 computers and other devices on the network. It produces Excel spreadsheets that show the results of the inventories and assessments and Word documents that give specific recommendations for updates.