• February 26, 2003 •
Microsoft Launches new Windows XP Desktop Site
By: Arie Slob
Yesterday Microsoft launched a new Web portal called the Desktop Center. The new site is aimed at enterprise customers, and should provide them with tools & resources to assist them in evaluating and deploying Windows XP Professional and Office XP (personally I don't see much difference with the Desktop Deployment Resource Center launched in April 2002).
In the Deployment Tools section of the site you'll find a collection of tools designed to assist the IT professional in preparing & managing Windows XP deployment. Included in the tools section is the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT). Microsoft developed the Windows XP ACT 2.6 to dramatically reduce the time to test and update applications to run on Windows XP. The toolkit not only helps evaluate and test applications, it also goes a step further by assisting IT administrators in tailoring adjustments to the applications so they are optimized for Windows XP. According to Microsoft, a recent study audited by BearingPoint Inc. (formerly KPMG Consulting) showed that when Microsoft evaluated nine companies with more than 800 applications using the toolkit it found Windows XP was compatible with more than 95 percent of the applications upon deployment.
"Enterprise customers told us they wanted better tools and resources to help them through the deployment process," said Rogers Weed, corporate vice president of Windows product management at Microsoft. "The toolkit will alleviate much of the burden of testing applications and streamline the process by addressing compatibility issues before deploying the OS across the organization."
The updated portal also includes the Microsoft® Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) 1.1. The new analyzer scans corporate desktops for missing security updates and service packs and also identifies common system misconfigurations. Once the scan is complete, the analyzer provides an individual XML security report for each desktop scanned. To perform local or remote scans of Windows systems, the analyzer includes a graphical and command line interface for IT managers.
The Desktop Deployment portal Web site also includes a host of other updated and improved tools and resources to help enterprises evaluate and deploy Windows XP Professional and Office XP. The portal includes a calculator to measure return on investment; a System Preparation Tool; guides for large-scale deployments and easy access to other deployment resources including TechNet, service offerings, knowledge base articles, deployment partners and best practices from early adopters.
The site also offers a free Customer Toolkit CD, which is only available for U.S. and Canadian customers. The CD includes all tools & resources of the new site.
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