Questions on Windows Vista And Longhorn

[Mav]

Per the instructions in the thread, I decided not to reply, but start a new thread. :)

Has anyone played around with Windows Longhorn?

Also, what is the general experience in deploying the Vista image on a network? It's supposedly been designed to work with WIM to enhance deployment via SMS push. I'm curious how well that works.

Thank you. :)

[Kyobanim]

My MS rep is supposed to be sending us a copy of Longhorn in the near future. Other than that, I have no info on it.

We start our tests next week on network deployments. Supposedly, you are able to create one image and use it on any platform regardless of make, model and so forth. The tech rep I spoke with last week said that WIM worked as advertised but then again, he works for microsoft.

BTW, questions in the other thread are ok, I just don't want it to turn into a bash session. ;)

[Mav]

BTW, questions in the other thread are ok, I just don't want it to turn into a bash session. ;)

Ah, ah well. Thanks for replying, tho. :)

Well, I know that an image regardless of platform is possible; we're using a Universal XP image at *******, even now. Used the same one for a GX620 that I used on a GX260. They seem to corrupt faster, but we made these, ourselves, so I'm curious how theirs will work. And I've used SMS for Office before, but not an actual OS. So being able to update my huge network using SMS would be incredibly nice. Another burden on us Sys Admins over the Techs, but oh well ;)

Please do keep us updated on your experience with Vista and Longhorn. I'm very curious as both have been advertised as a Sys Admin's dream. ;)

[airbornediver]

first off, I'm not bashing you or anything, however, Vista and Longhorn are technically the same Operating System. Longhorn was the "code name" for the new operating system, and its been in beta for quite some time. I've spent some time on it, and its not bad, however it had some memory issues and that's common for a beta. However, now there is no actual Longhorn, as the real name for the OS is Vista, MS isn't really using the codename anymore.

I have not had the opportunity to spend some time with Vista due to my deployment, however, I don't really plan to even deploy Vista on a test machine when I get back home for a least a year or more after the release. As much as MS has vaulted the security improvements and even though its been in beta for several years, MS has a long track record of releasing very buggy first versions of their operating system. I know that as a network/system admin in the civillian world, I would NOT put Vista on my network without extensive "in house" testing.

Safe bet? Keep the operating systems that are currently on your mission critical machines, keep them updated and such, make a test machine or even a stand alone test network and try out Vista on the small scale first, see what its going to do and what it won't do. Throw a lot of security cracks at it, as this is susposed to be the most secure version of Windows, and MS security has been, at the best, laughable for many years now.

Also read the technical white papers on it. Many universities are doing this and many independant companies, one thing that strikes me as fishy about Vista and the MS security suite that comes with it is that (as of my last reading of an MIT white paper, don't have the link right now, didn't save it) you cannot install 3rd party antivirus and antimalware and firewall programs. That's a serious issue, b/c you're depending on MS to totally take over your security, which like I said, they have a bad history of not really knowing what security is.

hope that helps some.

[Sionnach]

Here at "EvilCorp," we've found that Vista is a hardware-hungry beast! I'd recommend sticking with XP until at least one Vista Service Pack is release :)

Oh, and if you want all the high-speed graphics eye-candy, be prepared to invest in a new graphics card. :)

[Kyobanim]

Here at "EvilCorp," we've found that Vista is a hardware-hungry beast!

So, why do you think that? I've been testing it on several different platforms since beta 2 and have found that the average PC will run it. IMO, 'average' is a P4 processor w/512 RAM and a 128 vid card.

Since I started testing the Enterprise release last month I have found that:

1. Networking is better, faster than in XP
2. Improved video handling
3. Improved security, although I'm not looking forward to explaining to our client population shy they are not going to have the power to install ivery craptastic application they download from the Inet.

We have no plans to deploy this for the next 9 to 12 months but overall, I'm glad they took so long to release it. I haven't found anything yet, outside of 3d party software, to stop us from deploying it.

Longhorn is the codename for the 2003 server replacement. I have the copy here that MS sent me last month. It doesn't even resemble vista as there is no GUI interface. i haven't had time to play with it so I can't tell you anything about it.

Windows Server "Longhorn" is the codename for the next server operating system from Microsoft. It will be the successor to Windows Server 2003, and will be called Windows Server 2007 or 2008, depending on its release date[1] — it is known that Microsoft intends to keep the year based naming scheme of its server products. According to Bob Muglia, senior vice president of servers and tools at Microsoft, the current release timeframe for Server "Longhorn" is the second half of 2007[2].