As if October 22nd wasn’t busy enough for Microsoft with their release of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, and supporting Dataplex with our heavily subscribed Virtualisation Event, they also release SCCM SP2.
Windows 7 is a fantastic opportunity for Microsoft to drive the love back into the client OS after Vista, and in Server 2008 R2, there are enough Enterprise-class features and capabilities, for this to be classed as a major release, not the minor release suggested by the R2 naming…
Anyway why is SCCM SP2 significant? Well it has the following capabilities:
- Full Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 support that enables customers to deploy and manage their Windows 7 client and server based systems.
- Version 2 of the Intel AMT integration that includes the addition of updated firmware support along with support for key new features such as wireless profile management and 802.1x.
- BranchCache support that enables customers to significantly reduce WAN utilization in branch office scenarios by leveraging new technology in Windows Server 2008 R2.
- Greater 64-bit support that includes Remote Control, App-V, and the 2007 System Center Operations Manager agent
Combine SCCM, with the free Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010, and you’ve got a very powerful platform for deployment within your infrastructure.