Windows ADK for Windows 10 version 1607 available for download

Article
08/03/2016

Updated kits and tools are now available for 1607, with the most important one for SBC/OEM partners available for download here. I always recommend to download it locally for installation just in case you need to install it on multiple PCs, especially if you have a slow internet connection.

For those of you just getting started with Windows 10, here are some of the changes that the ADK introduced since Windows 8.1 was released.

What’s new in the Windows ADK

The Windows ADK now includes Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer, the Windows Assessment Toolkit, the Windows Performance Toolkit, and several new and improved deployment tools that can help you automate a large-scale deployment of Windows 10.

Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD)

Quickly create a provisioning package that you can use to customize devices without re-imaging.
Build a customized Windows 10 image for specific market segments and regions.

See Getting started with Windows ICD for more information.

Push-button reset incorporates system updates by default

Users can now refresh or restore their PCs to the updated version of the system files, instead of having to reinstall each update individually.

Partial language packs now available

Want to add more languages for users when they turn on their device? Instead of adding full language packs, save space by adding just the base user interface files for a language. Later, if your user needs handwriting or voice recognition capabilities, Windows can download them as needed.

For more information, see Language Packs (lp.cab).

New package type: Capabilities

This new Windows package type lets you request services like Microsoft .NET or languages without specifying the version. Use the DISM tool to search multiple sources like Windows Update or your corporate servers to find and install the latest version.

Save space by running Windows from compressed OS files

You can now run Windows directly from compressed files. This is similar to WIMBoot, introduced in Windows 8.1 Update 1. This new process uses individual files instead of a static WIM file. When updating system files, Windows now replaces the old files instead of keeping both copies.

Developers can package and share their trace in a zip file along with their trace session, annotations, and (optionally) loaded symbols with Windows Performance Analyzer.

See What's New in the Windows Performance Toolkit for more information.

Windows Performance Recorder Query Providers

Windows Performance Recorder now supports querying providers. ProcessExeFilter is an optional attribute, allows providers to filter specific processes by their corresponding executable name.