Microsoft outlines Windows 7 Enterprise edition features

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Microsoft has outlined the features that will be included in Windows 7 Enterprise Edition in a series of briefings to product reviewers. Windows 7 Enterprise edition will include support for scripted PowerShell commands for centralized management, help desk-friendly tricks and desktop virtualization options along with various other administration GUI tools.

The free set of Windows 7 tools to be included are based on PowerShell 2.0, which is currently in CTP and will include more than 500 scripts and 'commandlets' with PowerShell to take advantage of enhanced group policy controls. The scripts will help system administrators build and deploy tailored group policies that are easier to understand and manage.

Administrators can use PowerShell policy directives to push, multicast-style, immediate changes and updates to group policies to logged on users. These 'pushed' remote policy executables can perform rudimentary functions like adding network shares or applying regular updates as well as emergency operations such as closing ports to block zero-day vulnerabilities.

Help desk tricks will include:

Problem Steps Recorder
'On-Demand' Diagnostics that can be loaded from policy-defined resources and locales
3rd party application/component troubleshooting steps
Revamped Performance and State Monitoring through the addition of WinInternal application suite

Windows 7 Enterprise virtualization will have four possible configurations

Presentation virtualization (video, audio, keyboard & mouse)
Desktop virtualization (Hyper-V & Virtual PC)
Profile virtualization (user states and configuration)
Application virtualization (to allow application sandboxing - Execution of applications on external servers in a seamless fashion as though the application is running on the local machine)

More information about Windows 7 Enterprise is available here

#1 rakeshishere on 03 Mar 2009 - 12:43

Problem Steps Recorder is probably the best feature which i like

(3 replies) #2 McDave on 03 Mar 2009 - 13:00

What is diffrance between Application Virtualization and Telminal Services?

#2.1 SharpGreen on 03 Mar 2009 - 13:46

Terminal Services is another word for Remote Desktop. App Virt is the app appears to be running on your desktop (or laptop) but instead is actually running on some server somewhere on the network.

#2.2 Crash.Override on 03 Mar 2009 - 13:47

Its called Softgrid and it creates a runtime virtual registry and runtime virtual file systems and it uses local system resources.

#2.3 OnyxAlien on 03 Mar 2009 - 17:47

Additionally, Terminal Services has been renamed to Remote Desktop Services and is considered the Presentation Virtualization configuration.

#3 xpclient on 03 Mar 2009 - 13:02

I so wish SSTP was available on XP. Solves all the VPN firewall and NAT problems.

(1 reply) #4 sphbecker on 03 Mar 2009 - 15:00

I am a little confused. Can't you install PowerShell on any edition of Windows Vista/7 and use it for scripting?

#4.1 OnyxAlien on 03 Mar 2009 - 18:03

That is correct, but Windows 7 includes PowerShell 2 with the new cmdlets.

Interestingly enough, in Windows 7 Ultimate Beta (Build 7000) PowerShell 2 is located in C:Windowssystem32PowerShellv1.0.

#5 Marshalus on 03 Mar 2009 - 16:14

Those functions sound FANTASTIC.

(1 reply) #6 Gotenks98 on 03 Mar 2009 - 16:23

So its letting you run hyper-v on a windows 7 client instead of having setup a whole freaking server to do it?

#6.1 OnyxAlien on 03 Mar 2009 - 18:05

No, Windows 7 can be installed as virtual machine in either Hyper-V or Virtual PC in a Desktop Virtualization configuration.

#7 Sean2989 on 03 Mar 2009 - 18:44

I am very pleased with these features, the Direct access is so far the most useful I can see for a network big or small. Problem step recorder also looks like it will cut problem response time, which is sweet. Now if they will port that to Vista and Xp I would happy as a pig in poop!

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