With Windows 7 now available worldwide, I wanted to share some resources available to help IT Pros become more proficient with Windows 7 and consumers more savvy about new support resources for Windows 7.

Microsoft Learning has developed a wide range of training and resources for IT Pros that address the benefits and key technical aspects of Windows 7. With these resources, IT Pros can prepare for deployments and become Windows 7 experts within in their organization. These resources include:

• The Windows 7 Learning site with information, tools and resources to help people get up and running on Windows 7, such as Learning Snacks, Learning Plans, certifications currently available on Windows 7, and resources for classroom and online training. 
• The Career Campaign site that provides guidance, career paths, special offers and certifications for common IT job roles. Through Learning Plans and special offers, IT pros can train to get certified on Windows Server, Windows client technologies, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server. Individuals can chart their course from their current skill level to their desired job role and skill level, from beginner through experts, with clear guidance on classes, upgrades and newest releases, along with special offers that will help individuals meet their career goals.
• Special offers from Microsoft make it easier for individuals who are getting started in their careers, changing job roles or advancing within their organizations get the training they need.  This includes limited-time offers and discounts on training and certification, making it easier to embark on a career course, such as: discounts of up to 25% on certification exams, Career Packages that include classroom training, a Certification exam and a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (available through select Certified Partners for Learning Solutions) and discounts on e-Learning collections for self-paced study.
• Springboard Series on TechNet is a GREAT place for IT Pros to Discover & Explore, Pilot & Deploy and Manage Windows 7. Be sure to keep your eyes on the Springboard Series Blog too.

Since many IT Pros serve double-duty as the IT expert for their friends and family, there are support tools available in and around Windows 7 that make it easier for them to help consumers address their issues. Detailed on Microsoft’s PressPass site, these resources provide end-to-end Windows 7 support that includes built-in self-healing and support tools, easy-to-use automated and scripted solutions and customer support through new social media forums, including:

• Windows Update:  Automatically updates software to help prevent problems.
• Windows Action Center: includes more than 20 automated troubleshooters that fix more than 150 common problems.
• Scripted diagnostics and solutions: through Fix IT solve common software problems with the click of a button.
• Online Support: through Microsoft Answers provides peer to peer help, guidance from customer support experts and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs).
• In the moment help:  through tweets to the @MicrosoftHelps Twitter account.
• Easier, more intuitive online resources such as the Windows Help and “How To” center and the solution centers available on support.microsoft.com .

For more information about the value of training and certification, and to keep up with new Windows 7 training resources, visit Born to Learn; and for more information about the consumer support resources available in Windows 7, please visit support.microsoft.com.

Special thanks to the folks at Microsoft Learning and Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) for reaching out to me and compiling these awesome resources to share with you today.

Most consumers will experience Windows 7 one of two ways, either by upgrading their existing PC or by purchasing a PC with Windows 7 preloaded. At work, most of our business customers have their own in-house IT support (or a dedicated partner that they work with) to deploy new versions of Windows.

For the customers that want to upgrade their own PC (and have experience installing Windows), an overview of the process is provided below.

For customers running Windows Vista:

Once Windows 7 is available on October 22nd, customers will be able to upgrade from their current edition of Windows Vista to a corresponding edition of Windows 7. For example, it is fairly straightforward to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium or from a 32-bit version of Windows Vista to a 32-bit version of Windows 7. The process involves inserting the appropriate Windows 7 installation disc, running the setup program, and choosing the “Upgrade” installation option. An Upgrade is the fastest and easiest type of installation and will preserve your files, settings, and programs.

For customers running Windows XP:

Customers who wish to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 will need to follow a different upgrade process due to the changes in PCs since the introduction of Windows XP in 2001. To upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 you must first determine if your PC meets the minimum system requirements using the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Assuming it meets the requirements, you can install Windows 7 using the “Custom” installation option. A custom installation does not preserve your files, settings or programs so you need to first back up your data to an external drive and re-install your programs once installation has completed.

If you are upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 and installing it yourself, we have detailed step-by-step instructions here.

If you are a business customer, please note that there are other migration options for you that include a broad range of deployment tools and guidance to assist your migration to Windows 7. This also includes solutions to assess application and hardware compatibility. Please visit the Springboard Series.

For customers who want to upgrade to Windows 7:

We’ve received a lot of questions from our customers about getting Windows 7 before October 22nd. While you won’t be able to go into a store and purchase a copy until then, you can take advantage of our pre-order option which is available now via the Microsoft Online Store as well as a variety of participating retailers.  If you’re an eligible college student, you can also take advantage of a sweet deal on Windows 7 for $29.99 by visiting http://www.win741.com/. And, if you have multiple PC’s at home, then on October 22nd for a limited time, you’ll be able to get the Windows 7 Family Pack Offer, which will provide 3 Upgrade Licenses for $149.99.  Look for more details on this soon.

For more information on moving to Windows 7, I suggest you read our Windows 7 Upgrade FAQ which answers many of the commonly asked questions regarding moving to Windows 7.

I get the extreme pleasure of exclusively revealing a new Microsoft community website on Windows today specifically designed for IT Professionals: Talking About Windows.

Talking About Windows is a new website that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Windows 7 from the Microsoft engineers who helped build product as well as showcasing real IT Professionals talking candidly about their implementations and experiences in considering a more modern OS. This is done through a series of videos hosted within the Talking About Windows Website.

Through Talking About Windows, IT Professionals can listen as our engineers discuss why certain product decisions and feature trade-offs were made in Windows 7 from the likes of Mark Russinovich – a Technical Fellow here at Microsoft (and founder of Windows Sysinternals) - as well as Jon DeVaan, Senior Vice President for the Windows Core Operating System. A great line-up of videos with the people behind Windows 7 can be found at Talking About Windows to with more on the way!

I thought it would be neat to also showcase a special viral video for Talking About Windows I think you will enjoy (feel free to embed on your site!):

Talking About Windows – BitLocker to Go

Talking About Windows also features videos of IT Professionals offering real-world commentary on their Windows deployment and adoption experiences as well.

If you’re an IT Professional, you can also take part in conversations on the Talking About Windows website via the comments section for each video. After all – it’s about “talking about Windows” right? If you then want deeper information I recommend you visit probably one of the single best resources on the web for IT Professionals on Windows – the Springboard Series on TechNet.

In combination with Talking About Windows and the Springboard Series – IT Professionals have a great deal of resources to help them consider their options and learn more about Windows 7!

By the way Stephen Rose, who sits down the hall from me and is our community manager for IT Professionals, helps you to navigate the site when you get there.

As of today, I am running the Windows 7 Beta on several different PCs including my laptop, my work PC, and my PC at home, which I upgraded recently to Windows 7 from Windows Vista SP1. (I’ll be outlining the PCs I’m using to test Windows 7 shortly.) I’m all connected with HomeGroup, I’ve got several different Libraries set up, and I’m loving the new Windows Taskbar. I’ve got Windows Media Center recording my favorite TV shows and my Zune 80 syncing up with the Zune software. And things are even better with Windows Live Essentials installed. I find the Windows 7 Beta to be an amazing beta release and I am extremely excited for you to get your hands on it later this week! I’d like to take a moment to share some specifics regarding the Windows 7 Beta that I think are very important for people looking to give Windows 7 a spin.

On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page on Windows.com. The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 2.5 million people who download the beta.

The Windows 7 Beta will be available in English, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Hindi, and each language will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions (except Hindi which will only be available in 32-bit). Because the Windows 7 Beta will be offered download-only, it will be provided to you as an ISO image (an .iso file) that you download. After downloading either the 32-bit or 64-bit ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta, you will be required to burn the ISO image to a DVD to install Windows 7. So you want to be sure you have a DVD burner before spending the time downloading the ISO image.

To burn the ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta to DVD, if your PC comes with Nero or Roxio products – you should be able to burn the ISO image to DVD. If you don’t already have DVD burning software on your PC, you can also check out ImgBurn which is free and can be downloaded here.

The Windows 7 Beta only supports Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 upgrades. So if you intend to do an upgrade – be sure it is on a PC running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. We are not yet announcing anything regarding finalized upgrade paths for Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Beta will be only available in one edition, which is roughly equivalent the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista.

Also, another important thing to keep in mind is that the Windows 7 Beta will expire on August 1st, 2009.

I also need to emphasize that this is a beta of an unreleased operating system. Be sure to backup all your important data. As much as the Windows 7 Beta completely rocks, part of the beta process is discovering bugs and reporting those bugs. Some of those bugs could possibly lead to data loss. I tend to be a risk-taker myself and have gone all-out with the Windows 7 Beta by putting it on almost all my PCs both at work and at home, but not everyone should do this. I recommend using Windows Vista’s Backup and Restore features to ensure your information is backed up before trying out the Windows 7 Beta. Click here for several methods of backing up your data in Windows Vista.

The Windows 7 Beta is targeted toward the enthusiast crowd – people excited and knowledgeable with technology. If you don’t quite understand much of what I’ve written above, it is probably best you don’t try to install the Windows 7 Beta.

If you are an IT Professional, you can visit the Springboard Series for Windows 7 on TechNet (see the Windows 7 tab) on January 9th to sign up for the Windows 7 Beta but also can also get access to dynamic resources including video walkthroughs and the new Windows 7 forums.

Unfortunately I was unable to make TechEd this year. Today marks the start of a highly eventful week at our yearly conference for IT professionals. Roughly 10,000 attendees will gather at Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FLA.

This year at TechEd we are launching the new unified Windows Client TechCenter. The new TechCenter is now the official new home to the Springboard Series of online resources (www.microsoft.com/springboard). This is a critical component of the Windows Vista deployment and management story. With Windows Vista we built a number of capabilities into the product itself, as well as number of tools to prepare for implementation. The piece that's been missing is structured guidance along adoption path that helps IT Professionals learn how new features and capabilities can assist common tasks and also how to pre-empt and address key challenges upfront... We're aiming to deliver this final piece through the new Windows Client TechCenter, which shares candid best practices from real-world experiences. For instance, check out Springboard Series articles such as Five Windows Vista adoption "Gotchas" and how to get beyond them. The new site offers a consolidated repository of resources across the adoption lifecycle, new troubleshooting zones and community components.

Exclusive to readers of this blog, I was lucky enough to catch up with our very own Microsoft Technical Fellow, Mark Russinovich, a widely recognized desktop guru in his own right and a major sponsor of this effort, to understand more.

Chris Flores: Some of us know you from your previous work with Sysinternals and the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) what have you been working on more recently?
Mark Russinovich: I spend a lot of time working with the software engineering team on designs and specifications as we evolve Windows.  I also continue to build complementary tools to help IT Pros better manage and troubleshoot Windows environments.  We release Sysinternals utilities that aren't necessarily tied to the latest product release or service pack like our recent ShellRunas utility for launching programs under different accounts.  Our focus here is to help IT professionals solve arising technical issues and that has led me to work on the Springboard Series which I see as a key element for connecting with the needs of desktop specialists.

Chris Flores:  So what is behind recent efforts with the new unified Windows Client TechCenter and the Springboard Series?
Mark Russinovich: Well to set some context, in the past it has been a bit of a tax to be interested in and to adopt our technologies. Not because we did not have a lot of content or tools but because very often when you are adopting something new, you don't know what you don't know and it's hard to find what you need in the context of what you are trying to do or where you are in terms of point-in-time tasks, like planning, deploying and managing an OS.

In the case of implementing a new operating system there are lots of questions and issues along the road to getting broadly deployed into production.  The new Windows Client TechCenter and Springboard resources help offer more openness and empathy to these real-world challenges - so that we can more proactively help IT Professionals better understand both what they are up against and what's in it for them personally as they go down the technology adoption path.

Chris Flores: I think you just hit on something that really seems central to this effort - empathy -- can you explain what you mean?
Mark Russinovich: First imagine that you personally are in a position where you have to have the answers, and you have to spend your work day and often your weekend looking for them just to support the needs of your organization.  50% of your time is spent trying to keep the organization up and running another 10% of what you do are fixed tasks (backups and reports) but a good portion of your day goes on random stuff - say 40% on break/fix, helpdesk stuff etc. Well that's what desktop IT Professionals often have to go through and the last thing that you would want is for it to be difficult to get the answers you need or even for your needs not to be acknowledged when you try to search for solutions to your pains.

With that in mind, our goal here was to offer a more straight-forward and practical way of looking at things and give them a managed experience. Whether you are a Windows XP user today deciding whether or not to migrate or already on the path to Windows Vista, we offer one destination where you are able to proactively see recommended Springboard Series resources regardless of what OS your are managing and where you might be on the deployment or management trajectory. The new site also lets you connect with Microsoft and community subject matter experts and get answers and advice more easily on known challenges and the ones that you encounter.  In this case, you'll see that we have added new task zones on Application Compatibility - where you can see more dynamic information on the most recent compatible third-party applications as well as tips and tricks and guidance on Performance and Hardware Requirements; Imaging and Security.

Chris Flores: Seems like there are new content assets too, such as the Springboard Virtual Round Table on Windows Vista Adoption where you took on some tough questions. How does that fit in?
Mark Russinovich: It's another way of connecting with the IT Pro community in a real way and to be proactive in addressing their questions and challenges. These are live virtual interactive events, broadcast over the Internet. Think of "Meet the Press for IT Pros". We take live email questions and answer them via an expert panel comprising IT Pro peers in the industry. We try to do these quarterly, the next one we are running is called "Let's talk Windows Vista security" on June 18th.

Chris Flores: Why are you personally so passionate about the community connection?
Mark Russinovich: It's the community feedback, open discussions and connection to the people doing the real work that helps keep me grounded and learn where we can do better in marketing, support, and in the product itself.

Chris Flores: Thanks Mark. Good luck with your sessions at TechEd and thank you for spending the time today.
Mark Russinovich: Thanks, sorry you weren't able to make it to Tech Ed this year. It's going to be a great event.

Nicholas Rayner pointed out (via Twitter linking back to his blog) a new article available for download on Microsoft.com looking at 5 misunderstood features in Windows Vista today.

Download: 5 Misunderstood Features in Windows Vista

Those 5 misunderstood features include:

• User Account Control (UAC)
• Image Management
• Display Driver Model
• Windows Search
• 64-bit architecture

The article looks to clear up some confusion IT Pros might have with these features. This article is part of the Springboard Series on TechNet offering a collection of resources, tools, and monthly articles to address your questions on Windows Vista based on community feedback and feedback from early adopters.

We blogged about a Springboard Series Live Roundtable event in February in which Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich took part of addressing Windows Vista Deployment and Adoption. You can watch the recording of the session here.

Thanks Nick (a.k.a "aussienick") for pointing this out!