Four hardware-related experience in deploying Windows 7

Microsoft's Windows 7 has been launched for nearly 3 years and Windows 8 is expected to be released in the second half of this year. Now review and summarize the experience we learned in deploying Windows 7 in a corporate environment.

Deploying Windows 7 includes several steps, so we focus on content related to Windows 7 hardware requirements. What are some of the experiences associated with hardware resources that are our biggest gains?

The following are the four experiences that are harvested during the deployment of Windows 7:

1. You do not always need to update the desktop thoroughly, from beginning to end. That's a surprise for those who control it budgets, and it turns out so. For example, Windows 7 can also run well on Windows Vista hardware platform.
Microsoft has not focused on promoting this. If your PC is running Vista, replacing Windows 7 takes up less resources and actually consumes less physical memory and hard disk space after startup. This extends the life cycle of existing IT investments. This is good news for administrators who are tired of updating their hardware every three years. Windows 7 deployment in an enterprise environment teaches us that upgrading the operating system does not imply a hardware upgrade.

2. The hard drive remains a bottleneck. processors and memory have increased dramatically over the past few years, but many systems are still running on hard drives made up of outdated mechanical parts. When client virtualization becomes a solution for applying compatibility issues, virtualization creates greater pressure on the disk subsystem.

Fortunately, the HDD manufacturer solves the problem by introducing an SSD. They are a brand new electronic hard drive that behaves like a traditional hard drive, but does not slow down the performance of desktops or notebooks and other mobile devices because of the removal of mechanical parts.

Although SSD capacity is low, the cost is high, cannot compare with the traditional hard disk, but the performance is definitely advantageous. Instead of putting everything on the local computer, users should keep their work-related and sensitive information on the corporate network. In this lesson, we learned to work with Windows 7 and SSD.

3. Virtual XP temporarily requires hardware virtualization technical support. This is important, especially now that Microsoft plans to introduce the traditional server virtual platform Hyper-V into the Windows 8 client software.

In the months that Windows 7 just released, virtual Windows XP mode required these same extended support. Microsoft later released the upgrade package, introducing the old Windows Virtual PC Product code to complete the software emulation of virtualized resources to extend XP mode to old desktops and old notebooks.

Don't expect this to still be the case, after all, Hyper-V requires the latest 64-bit processor and chip support. Hyper-V technology is much more mature than virtual PCs, but if you need XP mode or any other client virtualization technology, you should consider upgrading your PC with Windows 8. So, what did you learn about deploying Windows 7? Support for hardware virtualization is an unavoidable disaster for future upgrades.

4. Multiple monitors can significantly boost productivity. Windows 7 support for multiple monitors is much better than previous versions, adding widescreen resolution, improved quality and user interface, and easier configuration of location and resolution for each monitor. Few deny the fact that switching from one monitor to two large screens per person will significantly increase productivity.

We also learned that with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 clients began to support the Multi-monitor RDP protocol. So your virtual desktop architecture can also support multiple monitors. Windows 7 introduces multiple screens as default conditions, rather than selection criteria, and enables seamless integration.

As Windows 8 approaches, the experience gained in deploying Windows 7 can be used as a reference for future OS installations.