The enthusiasm about the Windows 7 operating system is building as Microsoft provided RTM (release to manufacturing) code to OEMs, like Dell, on July 24th. As a company, Dell has worked very closely with Microsoft during the development of the platform. In fact, Dell has spent thousands of hours testing hundreds of systems with Windows 7 and will continue to test leading up to general availability in Oct 22nd. So far, we have found this newest OS to be very solid and see tremendous value for our business customers.

Dell believes that there are a many opportunities to help customers not only upgrade but get the most out of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. In addition to customers looking to upgrade from Windows Vista, many customers who are still on Windows XP will be looking to move to Windows 7 as well. With many of our customers expecting to upgrade their hardware, there are some specific ways that Dell can help customers see a better return on investment tied to an OS refresh.

Today, many customers find that migrating to a new OS can be complicated and risky without the proper planning. They have concerns about data migration, hardware limitations, integration of existing applications and licensing issues. By engaging at the very beginning of a customers’ evaluation of Windows 7, Dell can be an important resource. Both to determine if they will have specific compatibility issues or if their environment is ready to be upgraded. In addition, Dell gives customers a specific roadmap to ensure migration is fast and reliable.

Dell does this through a unique set of services for assessment, design and deployment which can reduce the time and risk of migration, utilizing proven reference architecture with field tested operational models. The company helps customers understand the business potential of transitioning to Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Upcoming offerings that can help optimize and manage customers’ infrastructure, include:

• Application Management Services: Application compatibility is a key concern for many customers. Dell has developed a suite of services to efficiently identify, test, remediate and deploy applications. Dell can also help customers inventory and rationalize their application portfolio before initiating the remediation activities to focus resources on the most critical applications.
• Migration and Deployment Services: In order to ease upgrading to Windows 7, Dell offers readiness assessments and optimized OS deployment services.  Dell’s deployment services help customers with all migration aspects including organization, infrastructure, hardware, software, image and deployment.  By leveraging Dell’s global deployment capabilities and tools, customers can more efficiently upgrade to Windows 7, while decreasing deployment time, mitigating risk, and reducing network traffic.
• Image Management Services: These provide fully functional images built by Dell consultants according to the customers’ specifications that are ready for deployment of Windows 7 on Dell client systems.

Today, Dell is already helping early adopters transition to Windows 7. The company is also evaluating all of its services to make sure that Dell offers the right solutions to help customers manage through this transition. Over the next few months, with the earliest beta customers, Dell will continue to help customers transition in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. 

Jim Ginger
Global Practice Leader of End User Computing
Global Infrastructure Consulting Services at Dell

It may be the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, but this future Eagle Scout has picked a  project on the cutting edge.  16 year-old David Browning is already a tech volunteer at his former elementary school, Bellevue Eastside Christian School, and is taking it to the next level by helping the school deploy the Windows 7 RC. Pulling guidance from online resources, his High School’s IT Director, and from his dad (a Microsoft employee), David constructed five different imaging scenarios for the school’s small IT program deployment.  The school was running Windows XP on machines that were 5-7 years old, and got a set of new PCs this summer.  Instead of moving to Windows Vista, and then to Windows 7 later in the year, David thought his Eagle Scout project provided the perfect opportunity to help move them to Windows 7 early so teachers wouldn’t have to train for two operating systems in one year.

After learning the ropes of Group Policy and IT imaging for the past month (primarily through reading on the weekends), David helped deploy donated hardware and software across 67 new computers this week. The school will run on the Windows 7 RC until upgrading to final code this winter. I’m totally impressed by his eagerness and dedication!

As we previously announced, today MSDN & TechNet Subscribers will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English. On October 1st, the remaining languages will be released.

The bits are available now!

And tomorrow, our Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). In a few weeks, the remaining languages will become available to them. If you are a VL customer without a SA license, you will be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1st.

For more information on Windows 7 Availability, please see this blog post. The post has been updated - including a nice chart.

Last week, I blogged that members of the Windows Technical Beta Program would not be receiving a complimentary copy of Windows 7. Normally I hate to be wrong but in this case, I’m stoked that I am.

To show our appreciation, members of the invitation-only Windows 7 Technical Beta Program will be eligible for a free, final copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. For more information on how to take advantage of this, refer to Paul’s post in the .Beta_Program newsgroup for details.

Tell Paul that Brandon sent you - and be sure to thank him!

I’d like to offer up a little insight into the “Release to Manufacturing” (RTM) for Windows 7.

Over the past week, there have been many rumors surrounding RTM.

We are close, but have not yet signed off on Windows 7. When we RTM you will most certainly hear it here. As we’ve said all along, we will RTM Windows 7 when it’s ready. As previously stated, we expect Windows 7 to RTM in the 2nd half of July.

Windows 7 will be available in many languages from around the world. For us to consider RTM “done”, it requires that all languages be completely finished. So there is a lot of work that needs to take place for us to finalize all languages of Windows 7. We also need to get to a point of “global readiness” with our partners. Our partners being ready for Windows 7 is extremely important to RTM. As Steven Sinofsky mentions in this blog post in May, RTM isn’t a single point in time. It’s the beginning of the next “process” for Windows 7. At RTM our partners begin their final preparations for Windows 7, including testing and building images for new PCs. RTM is essentially the final “stage” of engineering for Windows 7 before it hits the market at General Availability (GA). As Steven notes, engineering continues on Windows 7 from RTM until GA on October 22nd.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when we do a specific build internally of Windows 7 we have an extensive step-by-step validation process to ensure quality. This process takes time. Just because a single build may have “leaked” it does not signal the completion of a milestone such as RTM. As always, don’t believe everything that you read on the Internet - except this post ;-).

Everyone is super excited about this version of Windows. I continue to get a ton of questions about some of the things that happen after we RTM. I would like to answer some of those questions:

Once Windows 7 is complete, how do I get it?

The answer depends on who you are:

• MSDN & TechNet Subscribers: Subscribers will be able to download the final version of Windows 7 a few weeks after we announce RTM.
• Volume License (VL) Customers: Customers with Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download the final version of Windows 7 Enterprise a few weeks after we announce RTM. As announced today by Bill Veghte during his WPC09 keynote, customers without Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1st.
• Consumers, Enthusiasts, & Beta Testers (Everyone else): The retail version of Windows 7 will be available in stores October 22nd. If you pre-ordered Windows 7, it should be delivered sometime around the October 22nd timeframe (depends on the retailer). You can pre-order Windows 7 today through many online retailers like the Microsoft Store.
• On New PCs: OEMs are expected to start shipping new PCs with Windows 7 pre-installed on them around October 22nd.

Can I continue to use the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) until I receive the RTM version?

Yes, you can continue to use the RC until it expires on June 1st, 2010 (expiration starts March 1, 2010 – this is when the reboots start – final expiration on June 1). Please note that “in-place” (or direct) upgrades from the Windows 7 RC to RTM will not be supported. You will be required to do a Custom installation (aka “clean install”).

I am a TechNet or MSDN subscriber. Will I get a product key?

MSDN and TechNet subscribers, as well as Volume License customers will have access to product keys (PIDs) when Windows 7 is made available to them. Product keys for Windows 7 RTM will be different than the product keys used for Windows 7 Beta and the release candidate. Windows 7 Beta or RC product keys *will not* work with Windows 7 RTM.

I am using one of the so-called “leaked” builds of Windows 7, how will I know if it is the real deal?

As always, beware of what you download. There are many bogus copies of Windows 7 floating around the Internet. More often than not, they contain a rather nice malware payload. And don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. When Windows 7 hits RTM, it will be announced here. Until that happens, any builds you are likely to see on the web are either not the final bits or are laced with malicious code.

How do I get a 64-bit copy of Windows 7?

The Upgrade and Full packaged retail product of Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate will come with both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs. With Windows Vista, the 64-bit version was only available with Windows Vista Ultimate. Due to the incredible adoption of 64-bit today and customer feedback, we decided to change this for Windows 7. Now all copies of Windows 7 in developed markets will ship with both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs.

I want to emphasize that delivering Windows 7 at the highest quality possible is the biggest criteria we have for hitting RTM. Our top focus is a super high quality release of Windows first and foremost.

Thanks, and check back soon for more Windows 7 news.

Still have questions about Windows 7? Leave your questions below as I have several colleagues here in Redmond waiting to answer any question Windows 7 related you might have.

UPDATE 7/14: Updated information for Volume Licensing.