Windows 7 vs Windows Vista

Windows 7 - Upgrade advisor

Download and run the Upgrade Advisor

In general, if your PC can run Windows Vista, it can run Windows 7. But if you're not running Windows Vista, or are just not sure if your system is ready to run Windows 7, there's a quick way to do a simple check.

Just download, install, and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta. You'll get a report telling you if your PC can run Windows 7 and if there are any known compatibility issues. If an issue can be resolved, you'll get suggestions for next steps. For example, it may let you know that you need an updated driver for your printer and where to get it.

download here Windows 7 Advisor

starting to plan for Windows 7 desktop deployment projects

For those of you starting to plan for Windows 7 desktop deployment projects, we are glad to announce the public release of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 4.0 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. You can now use this popular multi-purpose solution accelerator to determine if your existing PCs meet the Windows 7 hardware requirements and check for device compatibilities. In addition, MAP offers Window Server 2008 R2 hardware compatibility assessments and Hyper-V server virtualization candidate assessments. Download the MAP Toolkit 4.0 for free.



Speaking of great tool kits for planning your operating system deployments, you can now download the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Beta 2. MDT 2010 will support deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in addition to deployment of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. For details on the MDT 2010 Beta 2, see the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team Blog.