The 10 Things to Do First for Windows 7

AT A GLANCE:

• Getting to know Windows 7
• Dealing with the latest volume-activation requirements
• Developing a roadmap
• Handling new distributed-security features
• Virtualizing desktops and infrastructures
• Removing users' local-admin rights

When you run your thumb down the list of new features and improvements in Windows 7 (see the feature comparison chart at tinyurl.com/win7featuregrid), you're bound to wonder how you're going to get your arms around all that new technology so that you can deliver it to your users without too much disruption.

Following are 10 steps that can help you accomplish that goal.

Right click to mount/unmount VHD in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2

Tool to mount / unmount VHDs by right clicking on a VHD file. This new tool will work on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 systems with or without Hyper-V role. This one uses diskpart commands available within this new OS and hence there is no dependency on Hyper-V WMI interfaces. So, you can use this new script only if your system has Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows Image to Virtual Hard Disk Converter (WIM2VHD)

WIM2VHD is a tool that will create a bootable VHD from a specified Windows 7 or 2008 R2 WIM image (like the INSTALL.WIM file that ships on the installation DVDs) without having to run Windows Setup.  That means that you can a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machine up and running much, much faster.

A closer look at the Windows 7 SKUs

Today, I wanted to take a closer look at the Windows 7 SKUs since there has been some discussion about them for the last couple of days. By the end of this post, I want you to know exactly which edition of Windows 7 is right for you and help you understand how we approached addressing the large amount of feedback we received.

Our SKU line-up is based on listening to feedback from customers and partners and here is what they have told us and how we are addressing their feedback in Windows 7:

Customers wanted clarity on which version of Windows is the right version for them.  So…Windows 7 will be offered primarily in 2 editions: Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional.

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