Office 2010 Tools and Guides for IT Professionals
The very first thing you should do if you haven’t already, is download the bits from the TechNet subscriber download area. You’ll see x86 and x64 versions of Office Standard and Office Professional Plus 2010. If you don’t already have a subscription, jump on the discount code at Matt Hester's blog.
Now that you have the ISO image files, what is next? Time to build a virtualized test environment? Maybe start building a pilot lab? Hold on now, you probably need a few tools and guides first. Here’s a great run down of the core goodies you’ll want for your toolbox.
Office 2010 Product Guides
Are you an expert on all of the products? If you are like me, you probably get by well enough but there are some new product guides to get you up to speed fast on many of the new features. The very first guide I downloaded was the Outlook 2010 Product Guide. This guide is very well done and I highly recommend it and the other guides for the users you support.
Go get them @ https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=e690baf0-9b9a-4c47-88da-3a84f3e9b247.
Office 2010 Deployment Guide
You are going to see a lot of documentation on how to deploy Office 2010. The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) will have information, you’ll see Springboard content, you’ll see information all over the place soon. One such guide is already there for the taking, so I recommend you grab it right away. I plan to spend quite a bit of time over the next weeks and months looking at the procedures in it and the other guides that are coming.
This guide is over 200 pages so it’s really more of a book than a guide. It certainly has a lot to digest.
Go get it @ https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=5d0e7e0e-9e9b-43ba-a9ab-4775a26ffc2e.
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Update 1 Beta
If you’re making the move to Windows 7 and Office 2010, you need tools and guidance to help deploy Windows and Office quickly—and do it right the first time. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 Update 1 Beta includes new features like Office 2010 support, the ability for users to initiate and customize their own deployments using Configuration Manager, key enhancements in driver support, and much more. These features, combined with many bug fixes and other improvements, make MDT 2010 Update 1 more reliable and flexible than ever.
Sign up for the beta @ https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1646&InvitationID=MDTH-PJBM-CBVJ&SiteID=14.
Office 2010 Group Policy Administrative Templates
This download includes x86 and x64 Group Policy Administrative Template files and Office Customization Tool files for use with Office 2010 applications. It also includes an \Admin folder with an Office Customization Tool, and ADMX, ADML, and ADM versions of Office 2010 system Administrative Template files.
For administrative template files, you may use the ADM files for any Windows operating system, or the combination of ADMX and language-specific ADML files on computers running at least Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. This download also includes a workbook (Office2010GroupPolicyAndOCTSettings.xls) that provides information about Office 2010 Group Policy settings and OCT settings.
Go get them @ https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=64b837b6-0aa0-4c07-bc34-bec3990a7956.
Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0
VAMT 2.0 is a managed MMC plug-in. VAMT uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to configure managed systems. A convenient command line interface (CLI) allows automated, scheduled VAMT tasks without UI interaction. Using the VAMT console, administrators can perform many activation-related tasks on remote computers:
- Manage product keys obtained from the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) or other sources including retail and Microsoft subscription programs such as MSDN, TechNet and partner programs -- and product activations using those keys.
- Activate remote systems using Key Management Service (KMS), Multiple Activation Key (MAK) or retail activation methods.
- Perform disconnected proxy activation and reactivation of systems without each system having to connect with Microsoft activation services individually.
- Assist with license compliance by enabling IT administrators to monitor system license state, including whether systems are licensed and running genuine Windows or Office.
Go get it @ https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=ec7156d2-2864-49ee-bfcb-777b898ad582.
Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V
The Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V is required for sequencing and deploying Office 2010 client products with Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V). This kit includes the components required for Office license activation. This product must be installed on the App-V sequencing station prior to monitoring the Office 2010 client installation. This product must also be installed on the client machines to which virtualized Office 2010 client packages will be deployed. It can be configured to enable certain system components to interact with virtualized Office 2010, including:
- Fast search in virtualized Outlook 2010 using Windows Desktop Search
- Ability for virtualized Office 2010 applications to open, edit, and save Office files hosted with Windows SharePoint
- Search indexing support for Office file types
- URL protocol redirection to virtualized Outlook 2010
- Print to virtualized OneNote 2010
- Mail control panel applet for virtualized Outlook 2010
Go get it @ https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=479f12f2-5678-493e-bce1-682b3ece5431.