Earlier today, Microsoft released Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solutions Accelerator.

This free tool, first blogged about here , will enable you to do the following:

• Identify computers that are Vista-capable,
• Identify Office 2007-ready computers,
• Identify servers that are capable of running Windows Server 2008, and
• Capture performance metrics for servers and workstations.

It will also prepare recommendations for server consolidation using Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Virtual Server, and for application virtualization using Microsoft Application Virtualization.

This is a welcome development, and with the releases tomorrow of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008, coupled with the public release of Windows Vista™ Service Pack 1 in a couple of weeks, your need for a precise and detailed assessment of your computing environment for upgrading has never been greater, or more urgent.

The ability of Microsoft Assessment & Planning to identify and assess which server assets are ready for virtualization, and also what installed software is ready for application virtualization is inspired functionality, since most of us are looking to high server utilization rates to reduce the direct and indirect costs associated with running servers.

In fact, we intend to do just that: use Microsoft Assessment and Planning to reduce costs up and down the line, and boost server utilization internally and at all customers’ sites.

So should you.

Microsoft Assessment & Planning is free and can be found here