The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance is a suite of five products sold as an add-on subscription license available to Software Assurance customers. MDOP uses innovative technologies to help reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the Windows desktop by accelerating operating system and application management and enhancing IT responsiveness and user uptime. MDOP will enable you to better control the desktop, accelerate and simplify desktop deployments and management, and create a dynamic infrastructure by turning software into centrally managed services. *Get the XPS viewer (What is XPS?) Get Adobe Reader for PDF files Microsoft Deployment unifies the tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment into a common deployment console and collection of guidance. The fourth generation deployment accelerator adds integration with recently released Microsoft deployment technologies to create a single path for image creation and automated installation. Microsoft Deployment’s tools and end-to-end guidance reduce deployment time, standardize desktop and server images, limit service disruptions, reduce post-deployment help desk costs, and improve security and ongoing configuration management. Learn more about Microsoft Deployment. Microsoft Deployment Solution Accelerator
Microsoft Deployment is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. It is the best-practice set of comprehensive guidance and tools from Microsoft to optimally deploy Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0
ACT 5.0 is a lifecycle management tool that assists in identifying and managing your overall application portfolio, reducing the cost and time involved in resolving application compatibility issues, and helping you quickly deploy Windows Vista and Windows Updates.
The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator
The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator is an inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that will find computers on a network and determine if they are ready to run the Windows Vista operating system or the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
Springboard series
To help improve your adoption experience for Windows Vista, we have developed the Springboard series, which offers you the right tools and resources at the right technical depth and at the right time in your adoption process. Please visit our online destination where you can also read monthly straight-talk articles and community best practices as well as get and give advice within our managed forums.
Ease change management and roll backs, enhance group policy management, reduce downtime, and provide users with on-demand access to specified applications. Provide users with a rich client experience while you manage desktop and application permissions, Group Policy Objects (GPO's), and virtual applications centrally from a console. Applications are delivered on-demand to clients, improving the time it takes to recover users from desktop failures. Centralized, policy-based management—including deployment, patching, updating, and termination of virtualized applications—is intelligently managed for all types of users via policies and administered through a single console. Real-time application usage tracking makes it easy to determine how applications are or are not being used so you can better manage license compliance. Software inventory management enables IT to better manage and control the software environment and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Operating system images are consolidated and stabilized because applications are decoupled from the operating system and delivered on-demand.
Learn more about the technologies in MDOP. Simplify desktop deployments and migrations with application virtualization and streaming, reducing user downtime, decreasing IT management costs, and increasing IT agility: Virtualization enables applications to run as network services on demand—without ever being installed. Applications run reliably without conflicts, increasing user uptime and accelerating deployments and OS migrations. Application compatibility conflicts and regression testing are eliminated by isolating all key components of the application from the desktop. IT help desk call volume is dramatically reduced by eliminating application conflicts. Users have a more reliable desktop experience. Troubleshooting tools monitor and pinpoint problems, recover and repair PCs, and post-crash analysis provides intelligence that helps prevent future PC failures. Applications are universally available to users in multiple client environments including desktops, laptops, and terminal servers, with a centrally managed infrastructure. The application management lifecycle is simplified and accelerated; IT responsiveness and user uptime are significantly improved.
Learn more about the technologies in MDOP. Build the foundation for a dynamic infrastructure: A dynamic enterprise is created through a virtual IT environment where applications can be delivered and managed as on-demand virtual services. Users can get their applications from any Windows desktop (enabling free-seating, hoteling), just like a web page. IT can easily assign new computers because they can offer a generic image to all users. IT can easily replace hardware because applications and users are not bound to specific computers. Business continuity planning is simplified because users can go to any computer on the network and instantly get to their own applications.1
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance facilitates accelerated deployment and manageability of Windows through these innovative technologies—available only to Windows Software Assurance customers. Using Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance does not change licensing requirements for applications delivered and managed through this solution. Refer to your application license terms. Learn more about the technologies in MDOP. Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007 provides proven tools and practices that enable IT professionals to: Create a software and hardware inventory to assist in deployment planning. Test applications for compatibility and mitigate the compatibility issues discovered during the process. Set up an initial lab environment with deployment and imaging servers. Customize and package applications. Automate desktop image creation and deployment. Ensure that the desktop is hardened to improve security within the environment. Manage processes and technologies to produce a comprehensive and integrated deployment.
View case studies that show how customers have improved PC manageability with MDOP technologies The Solution Accelerator for BDD contains guidance, sample templates, and technology files (such as scripts and configuration files). It presents deployment guidance as feature team guides that thoroughly explain each deployment process. Download BDD 2007 for free and learn more. | 
