Microsoft Windows 7

Windows 7 – Microsoft Listened and Microsoft Delivered

Let’s face it adoption of Microsoft Vista has been limited with one of the key issues being the requirements placed on the hardware and the overall speed of operating system.  Well as you will know Windows 7 has been through a number of testing phases and is finally RTM to Microsoft Partners and will be made available to the world on October 22nd 2009.

After a successful beta testing phase Dataplex are replacing the desktop operating system across our desktop and laptop estate, migrating from Windows Vista to Windows 7.

Windows 7 marks a momentous release for Microsoft and shows how far they have come from their grass roots.  If you are considering rolling out Windows 7 either through automated deployment, imaging or indeed through a VDI framework then you really do need to talk to Dataplex to understand how our experiences with this technology can make immediate impacts to your business.

As with any new technology the business must drive the demand and adoption, and Windows 7 is no different but will have big impacts to your business.

Key Challenges Addressed with Windows 7

Improve User Productivity from any location
Windows 7 delivers a faster and easier operating system for everyday tasks, through a responsive reliable architecture and intuitive UI and navigation. Barriers are removed to Information access allowing end users to search their PC and Intranet with ease. Access of this information is made simple through DirectAccess and Branchcache.

Unique technology for a unique operating system

Windows 7 Enterprise has the following features which should provide a simplified experience to your end users.

DirectAccess: Give mobile users seamless access to corporate networks without a need to VPN.
BranchCache: Decrease the time branch office users spend waiting to download files across the network.
Enterprise Search: Find information on network locations, including SharePoint sites, with a simple user interface.
BitLocker and BitLocker To Go: Help protect data on PCs and removable drives, with manageability to enforce encryption and backup of recovery keys.
AppLocker: Specify what software is allowed to run on a user's PCs through centrally managed but flexible Group Policies.
Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) optimisations: Improved user experience for VDI with multimon and microphone
support, which have the ability to reuse virtual hard drive (VHD) images to boot a physical PC.
Multilingual user interface: Create a single OS image for deployment to users worldwide.

Enhanced mobility and manageability with DirectAccess

Working outside the office is easier than ever. DirectAccess in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances the productivity of mobile workers by connecting them seamlessly and more securely to their corporate network any time they have Internet access—without the need to VPN. When your IT department enables DirectAccess, the corporate network’s file shares, intranet websites, and line-of-business applications remain accessible wherever you have an Internet connection.

Manage remote machines more effectively. Flexibility gives IT the opportunity to service remote machines on a regular basis and ensure that mobile users stay up to date with company policies. With DirectAccess, IT administrators can manage mobile computers by updating Group Policy settings and distributing software updates any time the mobile computer has Internet connectivity, even if the user is not logged on.

Enhance security and access control. To keep data safer as it travels public networks, DirectAccess uses IPv6-over-IPsec to encrypt communications transmitted across the Internet. DirectAccess is designed to reduce unnecessary traffic on the corporate network by sending only traffic destined for the corporate network through the DirectAccess server (running Windows Server 2008 R2), or the administrator can choose to send all traffic through the corporate network. In addition to authenticating the computer, DirectAccess can also authenticate the user and supports multifactor authentication, such as a smart card. IT administrators can configure which intranet resources specific users can access using DirectAccess.

Improve application responsiveness with BranchCache

Increase branch office user productivity. BranchCache in Windows 7 helps increase the network responsiveness of applications, giving users in remote offices an experience more like working in the head office. When accessing content stored on Windows Server 2008 R2, users in a branch office don't need to wait as long to download files from headquarters. When IT enables BranchCache, a copy of data accessed from an intranet website or a file server is cached locally within the branch office. When another user on the same network requests the file, the user gets access to the content almost immediately as it is downloaded from the local cache rather than over a limited bandwidth connection back to headquarters.

Flexible architecture. BranchCache only serves content to users who have the right permissions and always checks to make sure it is delivering the latest version of the file. BranchCache can operate in one of two modes. In Hosted Cache mode, a server in the branch running Windows Server 2008 R2 hosts the cached files. In the second mode, Distributed Cache, a branch server is not required; copies of files are directly cached on PCs in the branch and sent to other Windows 7 clients as needed.

Versatile and efficient protocols. BranchCache only retrieves data from headquarters when the user requests it. Because it is a passive cache, it decreases bandwidth utilisation between headquarters and the branch. BranchCache only caches read requests, so it will never interfere with a user saving a file. BranchCache supports common protocols for web content (HTTP and HTTPS) and file servers (server messaging block [SMB]), enabling it to work with a wide variety of application types. Finally, it works seamlessly with network security technologies, including Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), SMB signing, and Internet Protocol security (IPsec) to improve application performance even if the content is encrypted.
 
Help users find what they need with Enterprise Search:

Search enhancements in Windows 7 make finding information easier. Enterprise users need to access data from a variety of sources in their daily tasks. With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced advanced desktop search technology, enabling users to instantly find information on their computers. With Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the Enterprise Search family of products, Microsoft delivered highly secure, manageable, server-based search. Windows 7 brings these experiences together and provides users with an improved and seamless search experience across local and networked corporate data directly within Windows Explorer.

More intuitive ways to find and organise information. Advancements to the Windows 7 user interface (UI) make it easier for users to quickly find what they are looking for. Libraries are a new way of accessing documents, presentations, or any type of file that might be located in different folders, on different hard drives, or even on different computers—in a single view. Windows 7 creates several default libraries for items such as documents and pictures, allowing you to store and browse files in an optimal way. You can also create custom libraries. For example, libraries can be created per project to provide one entry point under which you can organise, access, and search files spread across multiple locations.

Searching beyond the local computer with federated search. Windows 7 enables users to search remote document repositories, SharePoint sites, and Web applications as easily as they search their desktops—through the familiar Windows interface. Windows 7 federated search uses an existing public standard named OpenSearch. Users can select which sites are available for searching, or IT can populate the list by Group Policy. Federated search results are presented in Windows explorer much like local files, with rich views, file details, and previews.

Flexible search scopes. Making it easy to discover and search intranet sites can help organisations maximise their return on these investments. With Enterprise Search Scopes in Windows 7, IT administrators can populate links on the Start menu or in Windows Explorer. These links simplify access to the most appropriate, complete, authoritative data sources on the network. This setup makes content on intranet portals more discoverable and accessible. IT administrators can deploy Enterprise Search scopes on users' machines using Group Policy.

Help prevent loss or theft of data with BitLocker and BitLocker To Go:

Protect your data—even on removable drives. With the continued growth of the mobile workforce, protecting sensitive data on mobile computers continues to be a major concern of IT decision makers. In 2008, 42 percent of respondents to the Computer Security Institute Computer Crime and Security Survey of enterprise IT professionals report that their organisations experienced theft of laptops or mobile devices. With Windows 7, BitLocker Drive Encryption helps protect sensitive data from being accessed by unauthorised users who come into possession of lost, stolen, or improperly decommissioned computers. BitLocker to Go extends BitLocker data protection to USB storage devices, enabling them to be restricted with a passphrase. In addition to having control over passphrase length and complexity, IT administrators can set a policy that requires users to apply BitLocker protection to removable drives before being able to write to them.

Easier to manage. Windows 7 gives administrators more control over how data in their environment is protected. From policy-configured Active Directory Domain Services integration for the escrow of recovery keys, to simple and efficient hardware recovery processes, BitLocker provides an integrated management experience for IT professionals. BitLocker to Go also gives administrators control over how removable storage devices can be utilised within their environment and the strength of protection that they require. Administrators can require data protection for any removable storage device upon which users want to write data, while still allowing unprotected storage devices to be utilised in a read-only mode. Policies are also available to require appropriate passwords, smart card, or domain user credentials to utilise a protected removable storage device.

Easier to set up. Whether you need to protect internal or removable drives, BitLocker in Windows 7 makes that protection easy because it works with almost any drive. Windows 7 simplifies the encryption of internal drives by automatically creating the hidden boot partition necessary to use BitLocker to protect the OS volume, eliminating the need to manually select that option during installation or to repartition the drive afterward. Best of all, BitLocker can be enabled on drives running Windows 7 with a simple right-click.
 
Help prevent unauthorised software from running with AppLocker:

Powerful, yet easy to administer. Windows 7 offers new application control policies with AppLocker, a flexible, easy-to-use mechanism that enables IT professionals to specify exactly what is allowed to run on user desktops. AppLocker restricts unauthorised software while allowing applications, installation programs, and scripts that users need. With this capability, IT professionals can realise the security, operational, and compliance benefits of application standardisation.

Application updates don't change the rules. AppLocker provides simple, powerful, rule-based structures for specifying which applications can run that are centrally managed using Group Policy. It introduces "publisher rules" that are based on an application's digital signature, making it possible to build strong rules that account for application updates. For example, an organisation can create a rule to "allow all versions greater than 1.0 of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to run if signed by Microsoft." With correctly structured rules, IT professionals can safely deploy updates to allowed applications without having to build a new rule for each version update.
 
How compatible are your applications?

Adopting a new operating system in an enterprise environment is never a simple undertaking, but the Windows 7 operating system was designed to ease application compatibility as much as possible. Assessing the compatibility of your applications depends largely on what operating system your enterprise is currently running.

Windows Vista customers: For customers on Windows Vista moving to Windows 7, the effort required to test and validate applications will be substantially reduced compared to moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. The majority of applications that already work on Windows Vista will continue to work on Windows 7 with little or no issues due to the underlying similarity of the two operating systems and efforts by Microsoft and its partners to provide compatibility. For example, application updates created for Windows Vista can be applied to Windows 7 as well.

Windows XP and Windows 2000 customers: Microsoft recommends that these customers work closely with their Microsoft sales representatives to help them get ready for Windows 7, as there are additional steps that need to be taken to mitigate application compatibility if your organisation decides to skip Windows Vista.

Ease planning with innovative tools

The majority of applications that already work on Windows Vista will continue to work on Windows 7 due to the underlying similarity of the two operating systems. So, as a first step, your IT department can begin using the following tools to assess the compatibility of applications with Windows 7.

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT): ACT enables software developers, independent software vendors (ISVs), and IT professionals who work in a corporate environment to inventory their applications, determine whether their applications are compatible with a new version of the Windows operating system, and apply compatibility fixes to incompatible applications.

Windows Vista Application List: To evaluate your environment's application readiness for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista, browse this list of over 8,000 applications with Windows Vista compatibility status.

In some cases, key business applications are not yet compatible or supported on Windows 7. If you cannot get a version of the application to run natively on Windows 7 or mitigation is deemed too costly or time-intensive, there are new desktop virtualisation tools to allow you to transition from older versions of Windows to Windows 7.

Windows 7 enables users to seamlessly run a virtual Windows XP environment through Windows Virtual PC. Older applications can operate in their supported operating system, removing the barriers to OS upgrade. Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualisation (MED-V), a core component of Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack for Software Assurance (MDOP), adds the capabilities required for IT-managed deployments of virtual PCs, including virtual image delivery, policy-based provisioning, and centralised management and monitoring.

Ease deployment with Windows 7

There are several enhancements to the overall imaging, deployment, and migration experience in Windows 7. New tools enable organisations to easily create and manage single, globally-supported system images, quickly deliver those images in network-based deployments, and rapidly migrate user files and settings from the previously operating system into Windows 7. Automated solutions enable direct migration from Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7 while retaining and migrating user data on the same computer. The entire process—data migration, operating system installation, driver and application specialisation, domain configuration, and more—is supported by task integration tools like the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

Also before you deploy, use the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit to assess hardware and device compatibility of your existing client computers.