Deploying and Administering Windows Vista® Bible

Chapter 1. Planning the Deployment

Maintaining computers can be an expensive venture. In recent years, however, the cost of computer hardware has dropped to a drastically low level. Organizations have been able to leverage the cost drops and other volume purchasing programs to lower the initial expense of purchasing computers and Windows licenses. However, these initial purchase costs can pale in comparison to the cost of deploying the new computer systems.

Microsoft has provided many tools and capabilities with Windows Vista to help you reduce those deployment costs. Microsoft has redesigned its deployment process to provide faster and more consistent deployments. In addition, it has provided tools to customize and streamline the deployment process for your organization.

The focus of this chapter is to help you properly plan your deployment. There are many new technologies to master and many choices that must be made. If care is taken when making these choices, deploying Windows Vista can be an efficient process. Diving in without understanding some of these choices can ultimately lead to slow deployments, inconsistent desktops, project restarts, and time-consuming manual steps. This chapter aims to offer a starting point by providing an overview of key details and tools you should be aware of in order to get things off to a solid start including:

• Choosing the right edition of Windows Vista for your organization

• Determining the right method of installation

• Getting familiar with the ...