Entries tagged with application compatibility - TechNet Edge

Windows 7 Application Compatibility Tool Demo

Evren Toktas — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT

Microsoft’s global technical lead for Windows Application Compatibility, Chris Jackson, demonstrates how you can use the Windows 7 Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 to get your application portfolio ready to migrate from a Windows XP to a Windows 7 environment. He shows how to gather an application inventory and mitigate application compatibility issues. Tim Vander Kooi hosts this 58 minute webcast recording..

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Windows 7 XP Mode Explained

yung — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:22:00 GMT

Since the last month, while delivering Windows 7 Launch Events, I have realized how strong the interests on Windows XP Mode (XP Mode) is out there, how much IT Pro want to know more about it, and how many questions are being asked again and again. So I thought to put together something concise and you can get most of your questions answered in a short read.

Designed primarily with small businesses in mind, XP Mode for Windows 7 enables a user to install and run Windows XP applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC. With Windows Virtual PC (not the same with Virtual PC 2007,) XP Mode works in Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate, and provides a 32-bit Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (XPSP3) environment pre-loaded on a virtual hard disk. Notice running XP Mode requires turning on hardware virtualization with AMD-V™, Intel® VT, or VIA® VT processor, which may not be available in all PCs. For Enterprise customers, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V,) part of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) and available in Software Assurance, is a management solution for deploying Windows XP Mode and local virtualization solutions in an enterprise setting. While MED-V 1.0 SP1 to be available in the first quarter of 2010 with host support for Windows 7, notice that both MED-V 1.0, MED-V 1.0 SP1 will leverage Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 which does not required hardware assisted virtualization.

To enable XP Mode after installing Windows 7, a local administrator can click “Windows XP Mode” from “All Programs/Windows Virtual PC,” as shown, to access the online download page. Follow the instructions to install Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode. A virtual machine will be automatically initialized with Windows XP SP3. The user will be prompted and can choose to cache the built-in service’s account’s credentials to automatically start the Windows XP SP3 virtual machine.

XP Mode is an integrated environment with a number of productivity features including:

Folder integration to allow accessing the hosting Windows 7 disk drives within XP Mode
Seamless applications to access XP Mode application in the All Programs menu from the hosting Windows 7 machine
USB support for XP Mode
Clipboard sharing between a hosting Windows 7 machine and XP Mode
Printer redirection for XP Mode

The XPSP3 virtual machine running in XP Mode is by default networked with the hosting Windows 7 machine using Network Address Translation. This network and additional virtual machine settings of the XP Mode are customizable. After all, XP Mode is desktop virtualization and a virtual machine. Most settings applicable to a virtual machine are applicable to XP Mode as well. Also keep in mind when it comes to desktop management, XP Mode or a virtual machine should be managed like a physical machine. In other words, a virtual machine in production needs to be secured, patched, and monitored just like a physical machine since at a logical level a virtual machine can be targeted and attacked just like a physical machine.

Windows XP to Windows 7 migration - Deployment

Adam Bomb — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:04:00 GMT

In this final video in the application and deployment series for Windows 7, I sit down with Joey, who explains to me some of the deployment options available to IT Pros who want to automate the process of deploying Windows 7.

Watch all 5 videos in the XP to Windows 7 Migration series:
1. Overview
2. Collect, Analyze, and Test
3. Remediate Applications - Fix
4. Remediate Applications - Virtualize
5. Deploy Operating System

View the XP to Windows 7 migration process diagram which will walk you through the tools and resources available from Microsoft to help you each step along the way.

Windows XP to Windows 7 migration - Remediate Virtualize

David Tesar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:01:00 GMT

Giovanni explains the differences between XP-Mode, MED-V, APP-V, and VDI and how these virtualization options can help with remediation of your incompatible applications and migration to Windows 7.

Watch the overview video for Windows XP to Windows 7 migration which links to all 5 videos in the series.

View the XP to Windows 7 migration process diagram which will walk you through the tools and resources available from Microsoft to help you each step along the way.

What Virtualization Means for the Desktop

Dave Morehouse — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:59:00 GMT

Brad Anderson and Jeff Wettlaufer are together again, this time for a chat on desktop virtualization scenarios and technologies. Using Brad's whiteboard for illustration, they cover application virtualization, desktop (or hardware) virtualization, presentation virtualization, and finally, virtual desktop infrastructure, or VDI.

For additional information relevant to their discussion, please refer to:

- dave //

Windows XP to Windows 7 Migration - Remediate Fix

Adam Bomb — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:01:00 GMT

In this third video in the application compatibility and deployment series for Windows 7, Yochay tells us a little bit about the options available to get an application to run on Windows 7.
When possible you should look to upgrade an app, or recode if if you have source code access and expertise. If those aren't options, he also talks about implementing shims, which may allow an app to run on Windows 7.

Watch all 5 videos in the XP to Windows 7 Migration series:
1. Overview
2. Collect, Analyze, and Test
3. Remediate Applications - Fix
4. Remediate Applications - Virtualize
5. Deploy Operating System

View the XP to Windows 7 migration process diagram which will walk you through the tools and resources available from Microsoft to help you each step along the way.

Be ready for Windows 7: Application Compatibility

Dennis Chung — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:01:00 GMT

We got Jay Paloma, Deployment Technical Specialist from the Singapore Office to tell people how they can be ready for Windows 7.

The key is, if you are ready for Vista, you will be ready for Windows 7.

Jay shows us how to use a free tool called Application Compatiblity Toolkit, and use it to help us manage AppCompat.

Remember, if your application can run in Vista, it can run in Windows 7.

00:20 - Why is AppCompat Testing Important02:27 - Where to Obtain the tools listed here

03:01 - DEMO Introduction03:56 - Demo a Stock Viewer Application that is not compatibility in Vista

05:45 - Standard User Analyzer to remediate Stock View Application

09:50 - Application Compatibility Administrator to create remediation package

14:35 - Applying the Remediation using a .SDB package with sdbinst.exe command

16:05 - Results of applying the .SDB Package

16:45 - Where at the .SDBs after its been applied?

17:34 - How the same application and remediation package behaves in Windows 7

20:33 - Additional links
Document for Using StockViewer Demo with AppCompat http://cid-61ce4aba8afd075a.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/My%20Writeups/ACT5%20StockViewer%20Demo%20-%20BLOG.pdf

Get StockViewer Application http://blogs.msdn.com/cjacks/archive/2008/01/03/stock-viewer-shim-demo-application.aspx

Related Video: http://edge.technet.com/Media/Vista-shims-and-application-compatibility-with-Chris-Jackson/

Windows XP to Windows 7 Migration - Collect, Analyze, Test

Adam Bomb — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:03:00 GMT

This is the second video in a series on Windows 7 application compatibility and deployment. In this video, David explains the process and tools available to you to determine what applications you are running in your environment, and which ones may potentially have compatibility issues with Windows 7.
Watch all 5 videos in the XP to Windows 7 Migration series:
1. Overview
2. Collect, Analyze, and Test
3. Remediate Applications - Fix
4. Remediate Applications - Virtualize
5. Deploy Operating System

View the XP to Windows 7 migration process diagram which will walk you through the tools and resources available from Microsoft to help you each step along the way.

Windows XP to Windows 7 migration - Intro

Adam Bomb — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:03:00 GMT

There are a few myths around the XP to Windows 7 migration, and this video is the first in a series all about application compatibility and deployment of Windows 7.
We address XP Mode, application compatibility, the lack of an in-place upgrade from XP to Windows 7, and the tools available to help you deploy for free.

Watch all 5 videos in the XP to Windows 7 Migration series:
2. Collect, Analyze, and Test
3. Remediate Applications - Fix
4. Remediate Applications - Virtualize
5. Deploy Operating System

View the XP to Windows 7 migration process diagram which will walk you through the tools and resources available from Microsoft to help you each step along the way.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit - building install media for Windows 7

Adam Bomb — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:01:00 GMT

Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 and User State Migration Tool (USMT), it's possible to create a USB drive to install Windows7 that will migrate all the user data from an XP or Vista install - and here's the cool part - can finish it all in less than 30 minutes on pretty typical hardware. I've demo'd it at conferences, and Jeremy has done screencasts and demos of it here on Edge.
In this video, Jeremy gives us a quick tour of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and shows how to create the install media that makes the magic happen.
The MDT is currently in beta, you can download it from http://connect.microsoft.com
You can see the tool in action here and here. A screencast of the MDT is here.

Application Compatibility resources with Jeremy Chapman

Adam Bomb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:01:00 GMT

Jeremy Chapman gives us a quick walkthrough of the tings you can do with the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5, including inventory collection of the apps and drivers in use in your environment, and lookup of the compatibility of those with Windows Vista and Windows 7. He also shows you some of the other appcompat resources available for those looking to prepare for an OS migration.

MED-V Addresses the Bottom Line

yung — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:51:00 GMT

Directly form a just published MED-V case study:

Without MED-V, TÜV NORD employees in India would have had to connect to the company’s Terminal Services system in Germany, which would have required significantly more bandwidth (4MB instead of 500KB) at an additional annual cost of approximately U.S.$585,000.

“It’s much cheaper to install a MED-V image on a client than to give an inspector in India a separate computer and Internet connection,” Boerger explains. “Moving forward, we anticipate that offices in some countries won’t need complete, local IT infrastructures. With MED-V, we’ll be able to provide what they need at a fraction of the cost.”

To find out more about MED-V, start with the home page at http://www.microsoft.com/medv. I have also published Mad About MED-V screencast series to help you get a quick technical overview of MED-V. And notice all Microsoft published case studies are available at http://ww.mircosoft.com/casestudies/

Windows XP mode for Windows 7

James O'Neill — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:50:00 GMT

The announcement of Windows XP mode caused a lot of excitement, in this screen cast we have a look at how it is setup up, what users see and get an idea of what it can do.

Download XP Mode for Windows 7

Windows XP Migration to Windows 7 RC using MDT 2010 Beta 1 – Part 2: How To Build It…

Adam Bomb — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:01:00 GMT

In part 2 of this 2-part series, Jeremy shows how he built out the migration environment using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Beta 1. After browsing the Deployment Workbench, Jeremy adds operating systems, applications, packages and drivers – then creates a standard client task sequence to manage all the steps in the migration. Just about everything is wizard-based and the hardest part in of the installation as shown is finding the command lines used to install the imported applications. If you haven’t seen part 1 already, I’d encourage you to start there. For more information on the tools and processes, see www.microsoft.com/deployment on TechNet.

Windows XP Migration to Windows 7 RC using MDT Beta 1 - Part 1: The OS Install

Adam Bomb — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:29:00 GMT

In part 1 of this 2-part series, Jeremy Chapman shows how a Windows XP computer with user files and settings can be migrated to Windows 7 RC. If you recall, we did this a few months back in an interview with Jeremy and the whole process using hard-link migration took about 30 minutes, installed the applications we selected and migrated more than 20GB of user state from Windows XP to Windows 7. This video is a screen capture walking through an updated migration to Windows 7 RC. The second part of this video series will show how this was done using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 Beta 1.

Watch Part 2

For more information on the tools and processes, see www.microsoft.com/deployment on TechNet.

Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 Beta with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Beta

Adam Bomb — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:43:00 GMT

There's been a lot of press about how there isn't a an upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7. In this video, Jeremy walked me through using the latest beta of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, specificallly the User State Migration Tool, to transfer the user settings and files from a Windowx XP installation to a new install of Windows 7 on the same PC.
One of the really cool features in this new version is hardlink migration. In the past, if you wanted to back up all of a users files and settings, those had to be transferred to a different drive, and the new OS install would wipe the machine, complete the new install, and then you'd transfer the files back. With hardlink migration, all the files stay in place on the machine, and the Win7 install just updates file locations with hardlinks. This means the install and settings transfer happens much faster, because the files aren't transferred at all, just the paths to them are updated. It's really cool, and means you can have a fresh install of Win7, with all your XP files and settings, completed in as few as 30 minutes.
The new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit beta can be found on http://connect.microsoft.com

TechNet Radio: Mitigating Application Compatibility Issues on Windows Vista Using Shims

Eric Ostrowski — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:26:00 GMT

In this episode of TechNet Radio, we explore many of the compatibility issues that the Windows team has experienced at customer sites in the context of what we can fix without updating the application, and how to fix it. The Windows Application Compatibility Infrastructure (Shim Infrastructure) is a powerful tool for resolving compatibility issues and unblocking Windows Vista deployments, but understanding where and how to leverage and configure shims can be daunting until you learn some of the tricks and subtleties, many of which we expose! Plus, we feature another installment of our ‘tip of the week’ with Chris Avis.

Vista shims and application compatibility with Chris Jackson

David Tesar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:01:00 GMT

I met up with Chris Jackson at TechEd, the Technical Lead for the Windows Application Experience SWAT Team and an Associate Architect with the Deployment Services Practice. We talk about best practices for running the application compatibility portion of a Windows Vista migration, what it means to fix applications using shims, and the implications of shims on security.