WI N DOWS VI S TA AN D 7: AR E YOU IGNO RI NG THE IN EV ITABLE ?

By Omer Qureshi

Ignoring the inevitable?

When it comes to deploying a new OS (whether at the Data Centers or for the end users con- sump<on) the IT Pros tend to take a more cau<ous 'wait and see approach'. So the ques<on begs, why should the new opera<ng system from the soGware giant get any beHer treatment, is Windows Vista any beHer than its predecessors such as Windows 95, NT, 98, 2000, XP, in simple words the answer is a bold and resounding "HELL YEAH!!!" Migra<ons to the Windows Vista is inevitable for the enterprise across the globe, delaying the planning and tes<ng the OS in limited manner would only cause substan<al issues in the future and could also lead to user dissa<sfac<on, not mee<ng the SLA, and other business compe<<ve/security issues. Imagine that in 2008 and if you are running/suppor<ng ancient OS like Windows 2000 (launched 8+ years ago) or XP (7+ years ago), OEMs and device manufacturers and ISVs or soG- ware vendors would con<nue to limit their support for these older OS and at the same <me you would be missing out on all the great features and cost savings that Windows Vista has to oer.

Know the facts:

The facts around the development, tes<ng and adop<on speak for themselves: When developing Windows Vista, MicrosoG set out to provide higher levels of produc<vity, mo- bility, and security, with lower costs. AGer more than six months of broad availability and usage, it's evident that these investments are improving the Windows compu<ng experience. For ex- ample, in the rst six months of use, Windows Vista had fewer security issues than Windows XP (Windows Vista had only 12 issues, and Windows XP had 36). According to the Windows Vista 6- Month Vulnerability Report by Jeery R. Jones, Windows Vista had fewer security issues than all the popular opera<ng systems he studied. Over 60 Million sold thus far Adop<on rate faster than predecessors Device Coverage Con<nues To Grow Rapidly; 700K New Device Types Added Since No- vember 2006 Over 2.2 million devices are supported by Windows Vista, between In-Box and WU drivers, suppor<ng the vast majority of devices 2

Number of Logoed Devices exceeds 10,000 and growth is outpacing Windows XP Over 20 Reliability and Compa<bility updates delivered to all users using Windows Up- date

What's Cooking inWindows Vista SP1:

So what's the whole big fuss about Windows Vista SP1, should the IT Pros and end-users really expects some elaborate feature sets or a big "SHOCK n AWE ". The straight answer for that is also not really. Let's talk about what is Windows Vista SP1: Windows Vista SP1 Is Another Vehicle To Improve Experience Built and tested to enable smooth transi<ons for applica<ons from Windows Vista RTM to Windows Vista SP1 What to expect - Improved Applica<on Compa<bility - Device Driver Improvements - Security, Reliability and performance - Administra<ve Experience Customers can choose which updates they want, and install them with the technology best for their organiza<on. This includes Windows Update (WU), Windows Server Up- date Services (WSUS), and System Center Congura<on Manager or 3rd party tools

Wait or not to Wait?

Organiza<ons do not need to wait for SP1 to deploy Windows Vista; they are encouraged to be- gin their Windows Vista evalua<on and deployment now: Organiza<ons currently evalua<ng and deploying Windows Vista should con<nue their evalua- <on, pilot programs, and deployment on the ini<al ("Gold") Windows Vista release. MicrosoG provides the tools and guidance needed to deploy Windows Vista today and will provide addi- <onal guidance, tools and support for moving to SP1 when the service pack is released. Organiza<ons just star<ng to evaluate Windows Vista should plan a pilot program, targe<ng the PCs that gain the most business value from Windows Vista (for example, many organiza<ons will nd that mobile PCs get the most benets) and present the simplest upgrade from the gold re- lease of Windows Vista to SP1 (How to Start a Windows Vista Pilot Deployment describes best prac<ces for running a pilot). 3

Organiza<ons wai<ng for Windows Vista SP1 should start their compa<bility tes<ng on the gold release of Windows Vista now, and then begin their evalua<on and pilot programs on the re- lease candidate of Windows Vista SP1 when it is released. Windows Vista includes architectural changes rela<ve to Windows XP that improve security and reliability. These changes can cause some applica<ons which work on Windows XP not to work on Windows Vista. However, these architectural changes are also part of Windows Vista SP1. For this reason, tes<ng applica<ons on Windows Vista today will be a very good proxy for compa<bility with Windows Vista SP1.

What are the consequences for delaying the adoption of SP1?

Well, Windows Vista was made available to Business Customers Nov of 2006, with the adop<on picking up in the enterprise segment it's likely that the new apps and support for new hardware devices coming from ISVs and OEMs will favor Vista (Vista is 6 years old OS and as the <me goes on, the support will diminish). Windows Vista has host of advancements and even without SP1, it makes complete sense to start the evalua<on and POCs etc to get your shop ready. Scoping plans for hardware and app compact issues and sketching plans would only help the organiza<ons move close to inevitable.