Windows 7 Desktop Optimization Pack 2010

Microsoft has labored to tailor its Desktop Optimization Pack solution accelerators to the latest iteration of the Windows client and server. On February 22nd, the Redmond company delivered the first Windows 7-  and Windows Server 2008 R2-friendly components of the Microsoft Optimization Pack 2010 (MDOP 2010), which are designed to play nice with additional technologies from the software giant, including the upcoming Office 2010.




Both the final version of Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.6, and the Release Candidate development milestone of Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) Service Pack 1 are now up for grabs. App-V 4.6  along with App-V 4.6 for RDS have been already wrapped up and are offered to customers in their final form. Microsoft still has some work to do to complete MED-V SP1, but launched the RC to coincide with the release of MDOP 2010.

“As Windows 7 continues to gain excitement across the industry, enterprises are evaluating their desktop strategy including Office deployment, application compatibility and desktop management. Together, App-V 4.6 and MED-V 1.0 SP1 with Windows 7, Office 2010, Windows Server 2008 R2 and System Center deliver a world class desktop for your enterprise,” stated Karri Alexion-Tiernan, director of Product Management, App-V.

With MDOP, Microsoft is offering a comprehensive package of solution accelerators exclusively for enterprise customers, designed to streamline the adoption and migration of its latest software releases including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Office 2010. The collection of various deployment tools is available only to Software Assurance customers, with some exceptions, including App-V 4.6 for RDS (which was former referred to as App-V for Terminal Services).

“With App-V 4.6,which is available via MDOP 2010, customers can have access to apps from anywhere, improve app delivery and management, and accelerate migration to Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 as virtual apps can be deployed in many desktop scenarios including VDI, TS, and local desktop,” revealed Gavriella Schuster, senior director, Product Management for Windows Client. 


“Today we are also releasing MED-V 1.0 SP1 RC, which provides full support for Windows 7. For incompatible apps that cannot be fixed to run natively in Windows 7 or are dependent on Internet Explorer 6, MED-V allows IT to create managed virtual machines running previous versions of Windows and Internet Explorer so users can upgrade to Windows 7,” Schuster added.

With the delivery of MDOP 2009 R2 in 2009, the software giant revealed that it was planning to launch MDOP 2010 in the first quarter of this year. To this date, there are in excess of 25 million MDOP licenses, which allow customers immediate access to MDOP 2010 via Microsoft’s Volume Licensing Site.


Microsoft Application Virtualization for Remote Desktop Services 4.6 (App-V 4.6 for RDS ) is available for download here