RTM Announcement - Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.1 

Hello,

It's been a few months since I last blogged about the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.1 - formerly known as WVHA or Windows Vista Hardware Assessment.  Today, I'd like to announce the RTM release of this tool with new capabilities including desktop security assessment, Hyper-V virtualization assessment, and more.

As you know, many of the IT pros out there like you are now spending a lot of time planning for Windows Vista deployments.  But many question and challenges remain:

• Are my existing PCs compatible to Windows Vista when it comes to Hardware and Device Compatibility?
• Will my PCs have BIOS issues after the upgrade to Windows Vista?
• Which of my PCs are ripe for an upgrade to Windows Vista?  (e.g. CPU too old so it's time to replace them; or just add 512MB system memory and the PCs would be Windows Vista capable!)
• What kind of software has been installed?
• Are all of my PCs secure?  Is Windows Security Center installed?  Do they have Anti-Virus or Anti-Malware software installed?  How about Windows Firewall settings?
• What about application virtualization readiness?

The MAP Toolkit 3.1 is designed to address all of these desktop-side issues from a single tool! The ...

Typically when Microsoft ships a new OS (like Windows Vista), we immediately start talking about the next version-which begs two questions: 1) is Microsoft working on a new version of Windows, and if so, 2) why aren't you talking about it?

I thought I would spend a minute giving you an update on where we are. First, yes, we are working on a new version of Windows. As you likely know, it's called Windows 7.We are always looking for new ways to deliver great experiences for our customers.  This is especially true of Windows - where we're constantly examining trends in hardware, software and services to ensure that we continue to drive the innovation that has both made Windows the world's most popular operating system and has provided a foundation on which our partners built great products and businesses. When we shipped Windows 2000, we were already working on Windows XP and we started working on Windows Vista even before we released Windows XP. So naturally, we've been thinking about the investments we made in Windows Vista and how we can build on these for the next version of Windows.

What is a little different today is when and how we are

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We're excited about the progress we've made with Windows Vista Service Pack 1.  On March 18th, Windows Vista SP1 was made available for customers who chose to manually download and install it from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.  Last week, we made the remaining languages available - giving WU users the ability to download and install Windows Vista Service Pack in any of 36 supported languages.  Today, we're happy to announce that we are beginning automatic distribution of SP1 in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. 

So what does this mean? Over the next few months Microsoft will automatically distribute Windows Vista SP1 to PCs that have automatic updates turned on (Learn how to turn on automatic updating) and running English, French, German, Spanish, or Japanese via Windows Update. Automatic distribution will only occur, according to user settings, on PCs ready for SP1. After Windows Vista SP1 downloads, WU will let you know that "new updates are available." You'll then be asked to make a few clicks before the installation of SP1 will begin. 

While we're beginning automatic distribution today, you might not see it right away since

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We have made available updated Language Packs for users using Windows Vista SP1 as well as those running Windows Vista RTM. For those running SP1, the Language Packs should be showing up for you under Windows Update. The specific language packs which are being released are as follows:

• German
• English
• Spanish
• French
• Japanese
• Korean
• Bulgarian
• Czech
• Danish
• Greek
• Estonian
• Finnish
• Hungarian
• Italian
• Lithuanian
• Latvian
• Norwegian
• Dutch
• Polish
• Portuguese (Portugal)
• Romanian
• Slovak
• Slovenian
• Swedish
• Arabic
• Hebrew
• Croatian
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Serbian (Latin)
• Thai
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Chinese (Simplified)
• Chinese (Traditional)
• Russian

For more information on the Language Packs, click here.

It has been almost a month since we released Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Update in 5 languages. To date: millions of people have successfully installed Windows Vista SP1 on their PCs. So we're happy to announce the next step for Windows Vista SP1 availability.

We are excited to report that today we are making Windows Vista SP1 available to folks running Windows Vista in any of the supported languages. Starting today, users will be able to choose to manually install Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update or download the standalone installer from the Microsoft Download Center (x86 and x64) for any of the 36 supported languages, not just English, Spanish, German, French, and Japanese. For now, it is available for users who visit Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center. We encourage most users to get Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update-which will provide the best update experience.

Now, Windows Vista PCs of any supported language can update to SP1.  You may be aware we also make DVD images of Windows Vista with SP1 available to certain groups like TechNet Plus subscribers, MSDN subscribers, and Volume License (VL) customers. TechNet Plus and MSDN subscribers can download these DVD

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I have a quick update for you about Windows Vista SP1. The Microsoft Update Blog contains some important information about updates to the SP1 prerequisite distribution plan. Starting tomorrow, we are resuming the automatic update and installation of the Servicing Stack Update.

In mid-April, we will begin distributing SP1 (in the first 5 languages) using the Automatic Update system.  We have a lot of Windows users, so not everyone will get it on the same day.  In fact, it will go to a small percentage of Windows Vista users each day. The exact timing of when you will receive it depends on when your PC is ready for Windows Vista SP1.

In addition to starting the automatic delivery of the first 5 languages, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you that also we're on track for the initial release of SP1 in the remaining languages in mid-April.