Deploying and Administering Windows Vista® Bible

Foreword

Deployment and Administration of new Operating Systems on new or reused hardware for most organizations of size is a continuous effort. Training is required for new technologies, new staff and the end users of the hardware as well. Change is everywhere and in the business of software, change comes fast. In the operating system deployment space, change has been slower than most other technology areas. Until the introduction of the Windows Vista® operating system, the deployment process had been essentially the same since at least the release of Microsoft® Windows NT®. With the release of Windows Vista and the Windows Server® 2008 operating system, many changes were made deep in the core yielding several benefits requiring we re-examine our old processes and tools and be willing to unlearn some of them. Many of the old tools will not work anymore. Some of our reasons why we deployed the way we did until now will have been forgotten, or just no longer applicable. Letting go of old habits and familiar tools is often difficult. Hardware standardization should be a goal for most organizations, but is still too often not achieved and like software it also changes fast so we must learn to deal with it efficiently. Our job is to manage all this change and look for more efficient ways to do what we do. Fortunately, the majority of the change we will manage will be recognized as a definite improvement.

The changes to Windows Vista in the administration and deployment areas are mostly ...