What an amazing week here in Berlin. We had over 60 sessions presented by over 80 different speakers on Windows 7 this week.

We had hundreds of people stop by our Springboard Series on TechNet booth and the Talking About Windows booth. Since we localize Springboard in 10 languages we had a cool time showing demoing the site in all of the different languages. I also want to give out a huge thanks to our STEP (Springboard Technical Experts Program) members who helped to work our booth. These amazing guys came from Ireland (Aiden), Bolivia (Miklos), New Zealand (Erdal) and the UK (Justin) to help support Springboard and Windows 7.

I even had a chance to be part of the Pre-Keynote. Check out the video of the bus arrival with keynote hosts Hyper-D and Hyper-T.

We met tons of IT pros excited about Windows 7 as well. We worked with a STEP member named Alex de Jong from the Netherlands. Alex asked the delegates at Teched EMEA about their Windows 7 experience. Alex contributes to NGN, the Dutch community of IT Pros. To learn more about Alex and all he does for the community, follow him on Twitter at @alexdejongngn. So ready to see the cool interviews and hear what over 100 IT pros from all over the world had to say about Windows 7 and Springboard? Check out our Talking About Windows events page under the TechEd EMEA event listing here. (Also a huge thanks to his crew, Ed Wens and Michel van den Einden who did all the camera, editing, and production).

 
Also, make sure to check our our newest Engineering and IT pro videos on the main page from Lidiane Souza, Greg Lambert, Stephen Hall and Peter Menadu.

Tuesday night was our Springboard Party at the Water-Gate Club. Over 300 It pros from around the world showed up to party and share their love of Windows 7 and Springboard. It was a great time with great music courtesy of DJ Joey Snow and DJ David Lowe. Thanks again to our co-sponsors on the Windows Server team and TechNet+ team as well as everyone who showed up to celebrate with us.

It was a week of listening to amazing speakers, everyone asking great questions,cool demos, people working in HOLs all day and getting certified that evening, amazing food and people passionate about all of our products. All of this and the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. Our motto, “Life Without Walls” really took on a whole new meaning for me as I stood in front of the wall and outside the Brandenburg Gate on Monday.

Thank you Berlin for an amazing time.

Stephen

It’s been a very exciting several of months for us here at Microsoft, and for many of our customers and partners, sharing the excitement of Windows 7. Since its release to manufacturing in July, through this week at TechEd Europe, we’ve had a lot of Windows 7 and MDOP activities, including countless in-person launch events held around the world. We’ve also had an estimated one in two IT Professionals worldwide try Windows 7, we’ve seen hundreds of community led events, and millions of you have visited us on the Springboard Series on TechNet to get information, tools and guidance for migrating to Windows 7.

I have personally visited 12 countries in the last 2 months and had the chance to speak with many customers and partners to learn about your experiences with Windows 7. Several themes are consistent. You tell me your users are incredibly excited about the performance and productivity improvements of Windows 7 and your IT organizations are seeing great value in the enhanced security and management. I am hearing how you can both pull cost out of your organization and provide greater productivity to your users. It is very encouraging to hear this positive impact you’re seeing with Windows 7 in your organization.

You heard from some of our customers during the TechEd keynote, and we thought you might like to hear the experiences of several other customers that we have worked with and how they realized and quantified significant cost savings. We have also included some useful guidance below to help you with your deployment planning

• International energy company Statoil is deploying Windows 7 along with Windows Server 2008 R2 to provide their travelling employees with seamless access, improve information access in their branch offices, and further enhance their IT security. By using DirectAccess, BranchCache, and BitLocker, Statoil is able to provide their users with mobile and remote access as well as the satisfaction that their data is protected. Check out this Q&A with Statoil for more on their Windows 7 deployment.
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche, a Switzerland-based healthcare company, is working towards their goal of deploying Windows 7 to 5,000 of their PCs to take advantage of BitLocker’s ability to protect data stored on hard drives as well as removable USB sticks. Roche is working closely with Microsoft Services to plan and deploy their new Active Directory infrastructure as well as their Group Policy management rollout.
• The Ministry of Defense in the Netherlands is working to upgrade 50,000 of their PCs to Windows 7 through 2010. By starting their application compatibility testing early – on Windows Vista last year – they were able to get a jump start on their Windows 7 deployment plans and begin their pilot of 200 users, who have expressed excitement over the enhanced user interface and their ease of data access wherever they are.

You can hear from more customers during our live monthly Webcasts on the Windows Enterprise website. For more information specifically on cost savings early Windows 7 adopters have experienced, visit the following total cost of ownership studies:

• Getronics is seeing direct IT labor savings of $111 per PC per year
• Baker Tilly is reducing their IT labor costs by $191 per PC per year
• City of Miami is reducing their IT labor costs by $148 per PC per year

So how can we help your organization realize the benefits of Windows 7? Microsoft has an extensive set of partners that are trained and ready to help you with your deployment planning and migration to Windows 7 - since January this year we have trained more than 110K partner individuals on Windows 7 worldwide. These partners can help you assess your readiness for a Windows 7 migration, they are able to help you develop a deployment plan and can provide services to assist you in the deployment, migration and ongoing management and support of your environment.

Additionally, Microsoft Services has consultants and support professionals in 82 countries to help you out. They offer specialized services based on best practices developed in coordination with product groups and early adopter customers to help you test your applications and jumpstart your deployment, including:

• Desktop Planning and Deployment services, which provide a framework for planning and deployment of Windows 7 operating system and desktop applications. It includes planning and architecture design, proof of concept, and pilot deployment that determines the optimal way to deploy Windows 7 and Microsoft Office based on customer business requirements and organizational readiness.
• Microsoft Services Desktop Application Compatibility offering provides an end-to-end application compatibility solution to ensure that business applications and data can be used more effectively in the new desktop environment with Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8 and the latest version of Microsoft Office.
• Desktop Image Engineering creates a standardized corporate desktop image that takes into account hardware, security, performance and localization requirements, in addition to applications, deployment and management. Consultants also give your team guidance on future maintenance and change management.
• Desktop Deployment Jumpstart helps you understand the costs of developing an enterprise-capable desktop, including a current state assessment, gathering requirements, and a gap analysis against a Microsoft referent deployment solution architecture.

What are YOUR next steps? Here’s some deployment planning guidance which might help you:

• If your organization is still running Windows 2000, we recommend that you begin your application testing on Windows 7 and begin your deployment planning.
  • If you’ve already started a migration to Windows Vista, continue that deployment, as it will help you get ready for Windows 7 when the time is right for you.
• If your organization is on Windows XP, we recommend that you also begin your application compatibility testing on Windows 7 and begin your deployment planning.
  • If you’ve already started a migration to Windows Vista, continue that deployment, as it will help you get ready for Windows 7 when the time is right for you.
  • If you’re in the early stages of planning a Windows Vista deployment, we recommend that you test your applications and infrastructure on Windows 7 and our advice is to change to Windows 7.
• If you have just deployed Windows Vista, we recommend that you begin evaluating Windows 7, and consider Windows 7 as you refresh your hardware or deploy it to the users who’d benefit the most from its features.
• Don’t have access to Windows 7 Enterprise edition? If you’re an IT professional and don’t already have access to Windows 7 Enterprise edition, you can download the 90 day evaluation SKU here. This will allow you to begin testing the final released code with your hardware and application portfolio.
• Already running Windows 7? Tell us what you think! You can join the conversation at www.talkingaboutwindows.com.

If you’re anything like me and you love XBOX and IT as much as I do, you’ll get a kick out of this video. Trevor and Sam are back for their 3rd installment in the Talkin’ IT series. This time Sam has a “spinning green doughnut” that is taunting him. It’s the Great Master Russinovich and SysInternals to the rescue! Will Sam downgrade to Windows XP? Will he learn how to cut the fat from his MSCONFIG files? Will Trevor figure out what’s up with Mr. Canfield’s toupee? Watch and find out!

(Yes, we like to have a little fun as we attempt to inform IT professionals like yourself about Windows 7.)

If you aren’t familiar with Talking About Windows.com, Brandon did a piece on our first viral video here. But in all seriousness, we have a lot to say about the performance enhancements in Windows 7. OS optimization has been a key area of focus for us her at Microsoft.

Watch for new videos next week from key members of the engineering team and from IT pros like yourself.

So keep the comments coming and don’t forget to ask your questions to our Windows 7 Engineering team by joining the conversation at Talking About Windows.com

Hi, I’m Rich Reynolds and I am the General Manager for the Windows Commercial Marketing organization. I lead the team that drives the marketing efforts for Windows for our business customers across the Enterprise, Mid-Market and Small Business segments, along with IT Pro community engagement.

More than a week ago we shipped the Windows 7 Release Candidate to IT pros and developers, and have been taking in lots of great feedback since then. Our number one priority all along has been to deliver a well-planned, high-quality Windows release that delivers what our business customers want. The team and I have been focused on identifying and building a product that addresses our customers’ needs, and based on customer feedback, we believe we’re on the right track.

Today my boss, Bill Veghte, announced our plans to accelerate the timeframe for making Windows 7 available at retail to all customers in time for the holiday shopping season. With Windows 7 coming soon, I encourage you to download and test the Windows 7 Release Candidate in your environment and let us know your feedback. I talk to customers every day, and I wanted to share a few themes are coming through loud and clear.

Customers are telling us they worry about costs, keeping up with compliance requirements, and about the demands that mobility trends put on their infrastructure as they try to balance users’ productivity with the need to maintain efficiency and security. At its most basic level, they expect an operating system that works great. For an enterprise that means it delivers advanced security and data protection, is easy to deploy and manage, and introduces innovation to make people more productive while also retaining compatibility with hundreds or even thousands of business-critical third-party and LOB applications. Of course, these economic conditions bring unique challenges as well – such as tight budgets, and the need to be as efficient as possible.

From the initial planning of Windows 7 through to delivery of the Release Candidate, we have been deeply engaged with partners and early adopter customers to ensure we are listening to your needs and delivering a high quality product. We are working with early adopters that represent a range of global industries. These include Del Monte, BAA, Transelectrica, Continental Airlines, Pella Corporation, Bombardier Aerospace, the City of Miami, and T-Systems (Deutsche Telekom’s corporate customer unit). Partners like Intel, Dimension Data and Getronics have also helped us develop Windows 7 for their customers and also plan to deploy in their own corporate environments. Overall, we’re hearing good things. Here are a few examples:

• Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier Aerospace designs and manufactures products in the aerospace and rail transportation sectors. They’re very interested in MDOP and BitLocker – here’s what their CTO, Pietro Greco, has to say: “We are interested in Windows 7 for its enhanced security and improved manageability which will allow us to create a more productive and efficient environment.”
• Pella Corporation, based in Iowa, designs, manufactures and installs windows and doors. They’re moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. Here’s what Jim Thomas, director of IT Operations and Infrastructure, has to say – early in the process – about their deployment: “From initial testing of Windows 7 in our environment, we’ve already uncovered reasons to believe our investments in time and resources for Windows 7 will be worth it.”
• Continental Airlines’ Managing Director, Global Infrastructure, Eric Craig says: “Continental depends upon technology, but we’re not a technology company, we’re an airline.  If my team can provide an easily managed, low cost, and functionally rich infrastructure, then Continental can focus its technology resources on business specific services.  We do this with the most modern Windows environment.”
• The City of Miami is putting Windows 7 through its paces. Like many of our customers, they like the manageability and security features. They recently held a technology day, where they demoed Windows 7 and Manuel A. Diaz, the Mayor of Miami’s question was “How soon can I get it on my desktop?” We hope that’s what a lot of people will be saying soon!

We’re encouraged by the customer and partner feedback we’re receiving and will continue to work hard to deliver a very high quality product that meets our customers demanding business needs.

More customer insight can be found at our Talking About Windows site. Check it out to hear the back stories from the engineers who developed Windows 7, and the early adoption experiences from IT professionals like you. It’s a place for you to find out more about Windows 7, join the conversation and ask questions. We’d love to hear your feedback.

To give you a sense for some of the features are customers are excited about – a customer in the manufacturing industry in Europe was particularly interested in the DirectAccess capability (also delivered via Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, with IPsec and IPv6 implementation). This technology allows users to access corporate resources from the road without having to start a VPN connection. Coupled with Federated Search capability, this customer saw the opportunity to provide easier access to the information that their people need from wherever they are, while at the same time offsetting costs associated with their existing VPN solution today.

From a technology perspective, BranchCache is also getting a lot of attention. A few weeks ago I talked to a big US retailer and they were thrilled about BranchCache. This capability, delivered by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, allows the caching of frequently accessed data locally in a branch office. This reduces user wait time, saves network bandwidth, and reduces the need for servers in multiple branch offices. They liked the idea of their employees spending less time in the office and more time serving customers on the store floor.

And almost universally, business customers are excited about the BitLocker To Go capability. This not only allows users to easily encrypt the USB drives, it also provides an ability to enforce encryption on removable storage devices. A European bank was telling me how excited they are about this capability to protect their data, and they saw the opportunity to offset costs associated with their existing encryption solution.

I’m anxious to hear about your experiences using Windows 7. As you try it out, chime in below and let us know what you think. For business customers who have not yet started, I recommend you download and test the Windows 7 Release Candidate. The final version is coming soon and we want you not only to be excited about it, but prepared. At this site you’ll be able to download the Release Candidate and take advantage of a whole host of tools and guidance for IT Professionals to help you prepare. We look forward to your feedback.

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.