|
Vista
Deployment: Recommendations & Strategies
January 3, 2007 (See also portal listings at the end)
This is the official statement on Vista Deployment for our client
sites. It also serves as information portal for Windows Vista-related
reference materials.
After a very long beta period, we're finally winding down that testing/learning phase and preparing to roll out Vista. Official Microsoft
release dates are: November 30, 2006
for corporate licensing customers, and January
31, 2007 for OEM and retail customers.
To Vista or Not?
The short answer is: YES! There are numerous compelling reasons. No,
there's no concern for immediate adoption, contrary to popular myth. There had never been a
single incident in the entire history, with proper knowledge and preparation.
You must first clear the Vista
compatibility/support step. All
the misguided "advice" out there are stemming from ignorance
and flawed logic. With
that said, however, we don't recommend upgrading existing stations in
general, as
the resulting benefits typically won't justify the efforts and expenses.
See Vista Adoption Decision memo for
details.
When Can I Get It?
We can provide you with Vista now, if you're a Microsoft licensing
customer with an existing authorization certificate and agreements. If
you're not already one, now might be a good time to look into becoming
one. There are numerous benefits associated with licensing. All other
clients may obtain new systems with Vista, or purchase upgrade packages
after January 31, 2007―the general release date.
Will XP Still be Available?
XP corporate & OEM licenses will continue to be available until
January 31, 2008.
Downgrade Rights
There are scenarios where you're not ready to immediately deploy Vista
at your firm. Licensing users (as opposed to shrink-wrap retail/OEM)
have the option of obtaining a Vista license for new systems, and
legally install a copy of XP using the previous XP volume license key (VLK)
and media. This is only applicable to Vista Business/Enterprise/Ultimate
downgrading to XP Pro. XP Home is not
available in licensing and therefore both technically and
legally not feasible.
Note: Cost-wise, it is advantageous to acquire Vista
licenses for new systems and exercising the downgrade rights, rather than continuing to acquire XP, as that would
incur the costs of XP-to-Vista upgrades in the future!
See also:
| 