TechNet Readers’ Windows 7 Deployment Progress

You might have noticed over the past few weeks we’ve been asking you to have a quick click through our Windows Survey to help us understand how you’re getting along deploying Windows 7 and where we need to do a better job of helping out IT Pros in the UK. Not only does this prove valuable in guiding what we do for you, but the survey also picks out some custom content relevant to your situation depending on the answers you select – win win!

We thought it’d be interesting to provide a little insight into how your fellow TechNet Readers are getting on with their Deployments and where they’re finding hurdles, so do read on.

The good news is, 35% of people have already deployed Windows 7 and 46% are currently deploying or planning to. That makes a whopping 81% of people who are soon to feel the benefit of all the advances that Windows 7 brings over previous operating systems.

Of the readers who aren’t yet en route to a better experience the majority say that Windows 7 has ‘potential compatibility issues’ or ‘if it isn't broke then don’t fix it’! If you fall into the latter bucket we feel it’s really important that you read up on the upcoming Windows XP and IE6 End of Support either here on the blog or on this special Microsoft site. A Gartner press release in 2010 identified 2012 as the year that companies should try to eliminate XP by to prevent running into support issues, so time really is of the essence.

For those of you who are worried about potential compatibility issues there’s a whole host of resources on TechNet to help you out. Just for starters why not take a look at the following:

• Use the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) to check the compatibility of your estate
• Check out the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals
• Use the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) to determine any app compatibility issues you might have before deploying
• Still having trouble with app compat? Perhaps the Application Virtualization (App-V) Tech Centre can help

There are even more tips covered by young Systems Architect Matheus Nudelman in the video below, one of the entries in our Save Sam competition.

Happy deploying and keep letting us know what you think! Any great resources we missed? Leave a comment!