Often people think that App-V is is an Application Compatibility Solution, it’s not. Chris Jackson has written an excellent article where he explains this in detail. Read the entire article here

Looks like the statement “SMS 2003 does not support Windows 7” isn’t valid anymore. Through an internal e-mail I learned that Microsoft has released a Compatibility Pack for SMS 2003 that adds Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 as supported clients. However don’t get too excited, if you want to benefit from OS deployment features, you still need SCCM 2007. Also note that that Mainstream support for SMS 2003 ended on January 12,2010.

During an Application Compatibility webcast I attended recently the presenter mentioned the Fiddler Tool. There are many network traffic monitoring Tools out there, but if you are just after capturing HTTP traffic, this one should get your attention.

Fiddler is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect all HTTP(S) traffic, set breakpoints, and "fiddle" with incoming or outgoing data

Fiddler is FREE and can be downloaded from here and some demonstration videos here

The term App-V is often being brought in conjunction with Application Compatibility as some might believe that App-V is the general purpose OS compatibility solution. The App-V team clarifies this here

Most IT pro’s probably don’t have a problem in getting access to the Windows 7 operating system installation sources because they can access them through their corporate volume license agreement and/or MSDN or TechNet subscription. But unfortunately there are still some out there who do not have such easy access to these sources.

For the use of Windows 7 on a primary device (the one that one uses on a daily basis) an official version of Windows 7 that comes either from the Corporate Volume media source or a separately acquired copy or pre-installed with a new computer must be used.

But if you need Windows 7 just for evaluation purposes Microsoft provides the following 2 options:

Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial
The Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day trial program allows you to download the Windows 7 Enterprise 32 or 64 bit installation sources which can be used for evaluation purposes during 90 days. The Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day trial can be downloaded from here. Note that prior downloading the sources you must fill in a form which also includes a question about your occupation. If you select a profile that does not fit to this program, you don’t get access to the sources.

Microsoft Windows 7 90-Day Eval VHD
This is a preconfigured virtual machine set contained within the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. To run Windows 7 within the VHD you must have access to a system that has Microsoft Hyper-V installed. The Microsoft Windows 7 90-Day Evaluation VHD can be downloaded from here. I recommend to read the Readme prior downloading the sources.

Finally let me also mention the Windows 7 Test Drive which provides access to a Windows 7 client that runs remotely on a Microsoft hosted virtual infrastructure.

I’m just about to expand my knowledge a bit around App-V. I haven’t done any hands-on yet, because I usually first focus on gathering all the useful resources available on the net, and then start reading these. By doing so, I found these fantastic videos on The Blogcast Repository.

Deployment Scenarios with App-V 4.5
Planning Considerations before Implementing App-V 4.5
The App-V Client (part 1)
The App-V Client Part 2- Deep Dive

By the way, if you are not familiar with The Blogcast Repository but like video based trainings, have a look at the Repository, there is lots of other Microsoft related Technology training material there.

Some of you are probably involved in some sort of Windows 7 migration preparation activities and like with any operating system migration, application compatibility is one of the most important topics you will need to focus on. If you need to do a first pre-study on your application compatibility status, then I suggest you download the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals and compare the content with the applications your company or client is using, this might allow you to do a first estimate on how much effort you will need to spend on Application Compatibility related tasks.

Additional Resources:

Windows 7 Compatibility Center
TechNet Application-Compatibility-Cookbook
TechNet Application Compatibility Forum

Windows Virtual PC requires that your hardware supports hardware-assisted virtualization. There are a number of third party utilities around already, but now Microsoft released one as well. It’s called the Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool and can be downloaded from here

If you launch the tool manually it will tell you if your system meets the requirements for running Windows Virtual PC or not, quite similar as the Securable utility I wrote about in the Detect XP Mode Support article.

But since I usually work in enterprise environments, I’m more interested in command line automation than in visual user interfaces, so let’s see what we have here.

When downloading the tool you get the havdetectiontool.exe, which is a self extracting executable. So the next step is to extract the content which we do by running the havdetectiontool.exe /x command which will prompt you for a location where to store the content. Once extracted you will see a havtoollauncher.exe and a subdirectory called Sources that contains the havtool executables for both 32 and 64 bit clients.

I was not able to find any command line options for the havtoollauncher.exe itself, so i moved on the to the 32 bit version of the havtool.exe. And yes, indeed the tool does provide command line options, Hura!

Executing the following command will parse the output into a log file:

havtool /log havresult.txt /q

Content of havresult.txt

System CPU doesn’t support Hardware Assisted Virtualization.
BIOS Vendor : Hewlett-Packard
BIOS Version : F.22    
System Manufacturer : Hewlett-Packard
Final returnValue = 1

Executing the following commands will set the result into the Errorlevel variable and then create a new System Variable called HAV and sets its value with the Return code.

havtool /q
SETX /M HAV %ERRORLEVEL%

Setting a system variable is just one example, you could also write a custom registry key or log file. Once you have marked your system with the result, you can use your system management software such as SCCM 2007 to collect the data and create your custom reporting.

The Windows Hardware Compatibility list (HCL) has been updated for Windows 7. So far there are no entries form the major hardware manufacturers, but I’m sure that will change within the next couple of weeks as they continue submitting their drivers for WHQL testing.

Note that you can also check the hardware manufacturers Windows 7 pages to find out if they will provide Windows 7 support for your device. HP for example has the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program. All models that are eligible for Windows 7 are listed here (US site, select your country for other localized products).

Related Topics:

Windows Logo Program

About the Windows 7 Hardware Logo Program

Windows 7 Compatibility Center

Windows 7 Upgrade Option

Knowing what products are being used within your IT environment is key. From a technology planning point of view its also important to understand the entire product lifecycle of a given product, especially when the it’s being used by a large amount of users or if its use is business critical.

For Microsoft products, the Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search site can help you creating your technology roadmaps.

Simply choose one of the options and select the timeframe. The example below shows all Microsoft products that will go out of extended support within the next 12 months. 

Does your hardware support the Windows7 XP Mode feature ? Here’s a small and free utility that helps you to find out if your system provides hardware virtualization support.

Download here

Source: ars technica

Microsoft currently has a placeholder page for the Windows 7 Compatibility Center, which will be launching at the same time as Windows 7. Read entire article here

Is your application vista compatible ? The Windows Vista Application Compatibility List for IT professionals might give you the answer. The list contains all applications that have the status “Certified for Windows Vista” or “Works with Windows Vista”.

This list might be helpful as well in planning for Windows7, since “most” applications that work for Windows Vista are supposed to work on Windows7 as well.

In the past days Microsoft has released additional information around the Windows Logo program for Windows7. For most users the logo on hardware and software is an important symbol indicating compatibility and reliability on Windows.

for Windows Vista there are multiple logos indicating different levels of compatibility. For Windows7, there are two main logo initiatives. Systems, Hardware and Software. Additionally four optional additional qualifications (AQs) are being introduced. The purpose of these AQs is indicate enhanced user experience for a product. Currently these four AQs consist of Device Stage, Windows Media Center, Windows Touch and HD imaging.

So let’s assume you are buying a HP TouchSmart PC with Windows7 pre-installed. This PC would then have the Windows7 logo on it and have an additional AQ for Windows Touch and Media Center. A few months later you are buying a new mobile digital camera, this camera then has the Windows7 logo and an additional AQ for Device Stage, meaning that when you connect your camera to your PC running Windows7, the required device drivers get automatically installed through Device Stage.

Additional Resources:

About the Windows 7 Hardware Logo Program

Windows Logo Program Webcasts (I strongly recommend watching these)

MSDN Windows 7 Logo Program

http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde/archive/2009/04/25/walkthrough-to-get-your-applications-ready-for-windows-7.aspx