* Getting ready for Vista and Longhorn
Throughout 2006 I mentioned that you should be trying out the beta releases of Vista in your lab. Those of you who took that advice should be ready now to start the rollout of the new desktop operating system. There’s no need to hurry, but it will be showing up on new machines you order this year and users will be beginning to use it at home – and asking for all of the new features it has that make their life easier.
When Windows XP first shipped, my advice was to wait as long as you could to upgrade machines running Windows 2000 Professional. I also counseled ordering new machines with Win2Kpro rather than XP (which, at that time, Microsoft allowed you to do). I even went so far as to tell you – in 2003 – how to downgrade from XP to Win2Kpro.
This time around, though, I encourage you to learn, and rollout, Windows Vista. Not only are the features worthwhile (as most objective analysts have said), but this time around there are two different editions aimed at business users: Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise.
* Windows Vista Business is designed to help keep PCs running smoothly and securely so you are less reliant on dedicated IT support.
* Windows Vista Enterprise is the premium edition of Windows Vista, that includes all the features in Windows Vista Business plus extra capabilities that can help lower IT costs and improve data protection.
The Vista Web site can tell you more.
Still, I expect you to give the new system a full workout in the lab, running your apps and services, using your networking, even hitting your servers, before you introduce it into the production network. If you don’t yet have a lab then this is reason enough to set one up.
But if you need more ammunition to get a lab into your budget, we’re probably only a year away from the release of the next Windows Server system, the one codenamed Longhorn. This is something you definitely want to get your hands on early and a lab is the only place to run it in the enterprise.
How do you get an early look? The beta is coming soon. If you aren’t already registered for it, head over to “beta central” and register right now.
Like Vista, Longhorn will be a significant improvement over its predecessor with Microsoft promising it will help “IT professionals maximize control over their infrastructure while providing unprecedented availability and management capabilities, leading to a significantly more secure, reliable, and robust server environment than ever before.” The company claims that Longhorn “… delivers new value to organizations by ensuring all users regardless of location are able to get the full complement of services from the network,” while providing “… deep insight into the operating system and diagnostic capabilities to allow administrators to spend more time adding business value.” That’s something to look forward to. Much of this year, in fact, we’ll be devoting to looking ahead to Longhorn. It should be interesting.
