WINDOWS 7 PLANNING

Microsoft and its customers have one thing in common: Both are anxious to move on to Windows 7. Customers are doing their part by thoroughly testing the software and reporting bugs. And Microsoft is doing its share by fixing bugs and building tools to make the migration smoother.

That's where the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) toolkit comes in. This little beauty is being tweaked for Windows 7. The idea is to ping the entire network of PCs and see which are ready for a Windows 7 upgrade. Those that don't stand up will be given a list of upgrades.

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Testing Begins for Vista SP2 Release Candidate

Microsoft has advanced to the next testing phase for its Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems by issuing Release Candidate "Escrow"-build versions of Service Pack 2. Various news accounts, published this week, suggest that the build is being made available for testing.

The releases apparently are only available to private testers via Windows Update. The Escrow build, reported as "6002.16659.090114-1728," represents a final bug-fixing stage. It signals that no new features are being planned for the forthcoming RC version, a near-final release.

Resource: Testing Begins for Vista SP2 Release Candidate