Windows Vista shipped to volume-licensing customers on 30 November. Consumer release follows on 30 January 2007. Specific enterprise customers can now begin deployment planning in earnest; specific architectural decisions are being made across the operator community.
This is a shorter post than the RTM observations — the structural issues were treated then; the volume-licensing release is incremental.
What is operationally available now
Volume-licensing customers can now download Vista, deploy it through their normal deployment infrastructure, and begin the application-compatibility testing that has been deferred until full availability.
Three specific operational changes from the past three weeks of pre-release access:
Application-compatibility testing infrastructure is now operational. Specific organisations are running their application portfolios through Vista compatibility testing; specific issues are surfacing; specific vendor responses are being requested.
Specific Group Policy infrastructure for Vista is being deployed. New Group Policy templates ship with Vista; specific organisations are configuring policies; the cumulative configuration discipline is being established.
Hardware-procurement decisions are shifting. New PCs being ordered are increasingly Vista-capable; specific organisations are planning hardware-refresh cycles to align with Vista deployment.
The cumulative pattern: enterprises are beginning the multi-year deployment trajectory.
What I am observing at Gala Coral
Specific deployment-planning observations from inside a major operator (with appropriate confidentiality).
The deployment timeline is being planned for late 2007 or early 2008. Specific application-compatibility testing through 2007 informs the specific deployment schedule. The discipline of waiting for SP1 (likely mid-to-late 2007) is operationally rational.
Specific application portfolio review is in progress. Specific applications need updating; specific vendor responses are being collected; specific custom applications need modification. The cumulative review work is bounded but real.
Hardware-refresh cycle is being aligned. Specific machines being ordered for replacement of older hardware are Vista-capable. The cumulative refresh trajectory will produce a Vista-capable estate by mid-2007.
User communication planning is in progress. Specific user-experience changes (UAC, new interface, IE 7 in protected mode) need explanation; specific training material is being prepared.
The cumulative discipline is to plan carefully, test thoroughly, deploy in phases. Specific subsequent posts will track the trajectory.
What I am paying attention to
Three things over the next several months.
Specific Vista issues that emerge through enterprise deployment. 95% probability of meaningful issues. Every major Windows release has issues at initial deployment; specific Vista issues will be visible through enterprise feedback.
Microsoft's response cadence to Vista issues. 80% probability of acceptable response. Microsoft has been credible in similar situations; specific responses will inform structural confidence.
The cumulative deployment percentage by mid-2007. Specific tracking metric. The deployment trajectory will be visible; the cumulative deployment will inform structural assessments.
What I am doing
For my own infrastructure: Vista on the test machine; production hosts continue running XP SP2.
For Gala Coral: deployment planning continues; specific application-compatibility testing is in progress.
For client work: standard advice — plan deployment, test thoroughly, deploy in phases, wait for SP1 if possible. The structural pattern is consistent.
More as the trajectory develops.