Microsoft recently announced the release of Vista Beta 2 (Microsoft site). Vista will be available for Enterprise customers in the Fall of 2006, and launched to the general public in January 2007. Here are a few of the things to look forward to with Vista:

Ximage and WIM Image Format.
This is a File-based disk imaging and is a core capability of Windows Vista. Ximage will make the imaging and deployment of Vista very easy and provides many benefits over other imaging formats. XImage's core features let you capture a volume to a WIM file and apply a WIM file to a volume. For example, the command to capture an image is nothing more than ximage /capture C: image.wim "Name". The command to apply an image to a volume is simply ximage /apply image.wim 1, where 1 tells XImage to apply the image from the file image.wim that has the index number 1

Configuring Windows Vista in Microsoft Active Directory domain environments is easier, too.

With Microsoft Windows XP, you can use Group Policy settings to configure most things, but you have to rely on scripts or other techniques to configure things such as wireless networking. With Windows Vista, you can use Group Policy settings to configure just about everything, including the following:

• Removable storage devices
• Wireless networking
• Hardware diagnostics
• Power settings
  

Fewer Support Center Calls:

Windows Vista is designed to fix some of the most serious problems automatically. For example, if system files become corrupted, Windows XP might simply refuse to start. Windows Vista, however, can automatically fail over to a recovery partition. Windows Vista then presents the user with Startup Repair (StR), a step-by-step, diagnostics-based troubleshooter. StR analyzes startup logs to determine the cause of the failure and can automatically resolve many problems. If StR is unable to resolve a problem, an administrator can choose to roll back the system to the last known working state. If StR can't recover the system, StR provides the user with diagnostic information and support options to make troubleshooting easier.

Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance in Windows XP has been a huge time-saver enabling support center personnel to connect to a remote user's desktop. Windows Vista makes Remote Assistance even better:

• Remote Assistance is faster, uses less bandwidth, and can function through Network Address Translation (NAT) firewalls.
• Remote Assistance has diagnostic tools built in, and you can run them with a single click.
• You can continue a Remote Assistance session automatically after restarting a computer.
• Two administrators can connect to a remote computer simultaneously - perfect for training or when you need to help someone else troubleshoot a problem.
  

Conclusion

Windows Vista should make your job easier. If you're a systems engineer, you'll find it doesn't take nearly as long to develop a highly secure client platform. If you're a deployment engineer, Windows Vista imaging tools should make your job much easier. Support center operators will have fewer tickets, and the calls that do come in will be easier to fix.

We at Quickstart will stay on top of all new developments with Vista and keep you informed. We will make Vista offerings available very soon. Check out web site for updates or subscribe to our monthly newsletter: subscribe