Hello,

Let me first introduce myself.  I'm Baldwin Ng, Product Manager for Microsoft Solution Accelerator team.  Our team has been developing great tools such as Business Desktop Deployment 2007 and guidance on client security such as the Windows Vista Security Guide. Today, another IT pro tool is born - Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0.

Now that Windows Vista is launched and made available, customers are asking many of these deployment questions:

• How many of my existing PCs are currently ready for Windows Vista?
• How many more PCs can be upgraded to Windows Vista?
• What upgrades are required in terms of memory, hard disk and graphics cards?
• How much would it cost and how long would it take to upgrade these PCs?

Indeed, one way to answer these questions would be to manually check each computer.  Another way would be to run automated readiness tools that can check one PC at a time against the Windows Vista hardware specifications, like the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.  However, most businesses and IT consultants told us that they much prefer an easy-to-use network-wide assessment tool.  Many of the IT consultants also stressed the need for a tool that would not require deployment of software agents to individual PCs being assessed. 

NEW TOOL - Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0
To tackle this challenge head-on, our development group teamed up with Windows Vista team and Microsoft Partner group and developed a network-wide assessment tool for Windows Vista migration called Windows Vista Hardware Assessment.  This tool helps organizations make informed decisions about desktop deployment and migration to Windows Vista by quickly assessing PCs on a network and generates detailed readiness reports of their hardware and device compatibility.

Please read on to find out more about how this tool works and learn ways to leverage the power of assessment to accelerate your desktop migration projects!  (Of course, if you can't wait to try this tool, we understand.  Feel free to jump to tool's web site and CLICK HERE!)

HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment consists of three core components:  Hardware Inventory, Compatibility Analysis and Readiness Reporting.

Hardware Inventory
* Through the use of WMI, AD and other Windows Networking Protocols such as NetServerEnum, this tool discovers both computers on a domain as well as workgroup computers.
* Once inventory is completed, all system resources and device information are stored in a SQL Server 2005 Express database.
* AD domain membership and WMI credentials are required for you to conduct a successful inventory.
* The current release of this tool supports network discovery of up to 5,000 machines.

Compatibility Analysis (with Windows Vista)
* Using the most up-to-date device and BIOS database from the Windows Team, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment analyzes each PC's readiness around hardware and device compatibility for Windows Vista. Driver information is pulled from online through a regularly updated Web service so that you can get the latest devices information each time you run the tool.
* Each PC is analyzed for its ability to run Windows Vista as well as the two different levels of experience: Windows Vista Capable and Windows Vista Premium Ready.  For more information regarding the details of hardware requirements, please visit the Windows Vista Hardware Planning Guidance site:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905075.aspx  

Readiness Reporting
* The last step of the readiness assessment is the auto-generation of a set of readiness reports.
* Summary Report in the form of Microsoft Word document provides a concise summary for business decision makers in an organization to understand the existing PCs' readiness for Windows Vista and what it takes to upgrade them to the new operating system.
* Detailed Report in the form of Microsoft Excel workbook provides IT implementers and consultants the detailed analysis results, PC by PC, so they can better estimate and implement the desktop migration by completing the required hardware upgrades such as addition of memory and more hard-disk space.  Detailed information is also provided so one can understand the number of device drivers that are required to get device updates and where to get them. For example, this tool will tell you if a certain device driver can be updated via Windows Update, Windows Vista DVDs or through the device manufacturers.

MORE ON READINESS REPORTS
The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment provides 2 reports for each network/network segment:

Summary Report (in Microsoft Word)
* The Executive Overview section provides a high-level view of Windows Vista readiness for each PC discovered as-is (i.e. without any hardware upgrades) and after you decide to invest in some minor upgrades such as memory, disk space, etc.  Note that CPU change is considered a major upgrade - a typical buy-new scenario as supposed to an upgrade scenario.  For example, in this report, you may find that if you were to invest in the recommended upgrades, you can migrate up to 342 PCs to Windows Vista.  That is good news if you are looking to reduce your desktop management cost and migrate most PCs to a single operating system - i.e. Windows Vista.

* How about hardware upgrades for the various experience levels of Windows Vista?  What you'll find is that Hardware Analysis section of this readiness report would give you much of the details that you need to estimate the upgrade cost including number of PCs requiring increase of System RAM, Hard Disk Capacity, upgrade of Graphics Card or Optical Drive, etc.  This really helps the business decision makers of any organization to better understand the cost it takes to roll out Windows Vista.

* On the Device Compatibility side, we provide the insights into how many device drivers would be available for updates and where one can find the updates.  This makes it easier for any organization to implement the migration.  An OS analysis summary is also provided, which is especially valuable to organizations where asset management and system management software are not used.  You may find this summary useful when considering various Volume Licensing options with Microsoft as well.

Detailed Report (in Microsoft Excel)
* The Client Assessment worksheet provides assessment results, PC-by-PC regarding current readiness and reasons for the current "rating." For example, take a look at the Computer_00001 in the spreadsheet below.  You will find that this computer is not upgradable to Windows Vista Capable experience because its CPU speed is lower than 800MHz, a Windows Vista minimum requirement.  Computer_00003, however, can be upgraded to Windows Vista Premium Ready.

* The Capable After Upgrades worksheet provides detailed recommendations for each PC that can be upgrade to Windows Vista Capable such as 1) Upgrade to 512 MB RAM or 2) Free up 15 GB of disk space (with a disk drive capacity of at least 20GB).  For example, if you take a look at the report below, you will find that Computer_00003 can be upgraded to Windows Vista Premium Ready by clearing the hard drive to make room for 15GB of disk space.

* Aside from hardware assessment, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment also gives you a detailed look into device compatibility on each PC as well as organization-wide.  The Device Assessment Summary worksheet makes it easier for you to identify devices that you need to investigate further (e.g. devices with no known device compatibility information).

OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
It is important to note the following before you start scanning your network:
1) Information is encrypted end to end, providing a secure way to inventory each PC.
2) There is minimal impact on the network and PCs during the inventory process.
3) Currently, there is no technology available to allow remote/agent-less detection of Bit-Locker and Aero-Glass features of a specific PC.  You are advised to use other tools available for single-PC readiness assessment for such features, such as Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.

OTHER WINDOWS VISTA DEPLOYMENT TOOLS
Aside from hardware and device compatibility, you may also want to try out two other tools that are crucial to the success of any desktop deployment projects: Business Desktop Deployment 2007 and Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0.

Don't forget, if you want to further harden your Windows Vista PC environment, our team has also produced the Windows Vista Security Guide that gives you the best practices and guidance you need.

SUMMARY
As you can see, Microsoft is readying IT professionals with a suite of deployment tools including the brand new Windows Vista Hardware Assessment.  So, why wait? Download the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool and guidance today and accelerate your Windows Vista desktop migration project planning!

For any suggestions on future releases, please write to us at:  wvhafdbk@microsoft.com .  We'd love to hear from you!