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Windows 7 Virtual Roundtable Q&A: Part Two

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As noted in our previous post, our recent Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable—Windows 7: To the Beta and Beyond—with Mark Russinovich resulted in numerous viewer-generated questions on the Windows 7 Beta release that the panel was unable to address, given time limitations. Here is the second batch of questions and answers, along with links to more detailed information:

Q: Will the User State Migration Tool (USMT) support migration of settings from Windows 2000 and Windows XP to Windows 7?

  • A: The USMT supports the gather process (scanstate.exe) on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It supports the restore process (loadstate.exe) on Windows Vista and Windows 7. Windows 2000 is not supported with USMT 4.0, but earlier versions of USMT will be available for Windows 2000 migration support. For more information on USMT, click here.

Q: Can we query this performance information (battery lifecycle, etc) remotely through Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)?

  • A: Windows 7 does include a utility called PowerCfg.exe that allows individuals to easily query common issues affecting power efficiency on a system, as well as determine the last full charge compared to full battery capacity to determine whether a battery needs to be replaced.

Q: Is Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) together with BitLocker Drive Encryption supported?

  • A: No. Windows 7 Native Boot VHD does not support use with BitLocker full volume encryption.

Q: Are there any special requirements for deploying Windows 7 via Operating System Deployment (OSD)/System Center Configuration Manager?

  • A: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 will support Windows 7 deployment with Service Pack 2, scheduled to be released around time of Windows 7 release to manufacturing (RTM).

Q: Is Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 backward compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP?

  • A: Yes, MDT 2010 will support Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 client operating system deployments.

Q: Is there an alternative for DirectAccess to use a full IPv6 vs 2 IPv4 addresses?

  • A: DirectAccess supports native IPv6 addresses.

Q: Does/will DirectAccess support SecurID authentication?

  • A: DirectAccess supports two factor authentication with smartcards.

Q: What happens if more than one user tries to modify the same file from the branch cache?

  • A: BranchCache works on the read path for Server Message Block content. Write path is not supported in Windows 7.

Q: In hosted cache mode, can BranchCache work with server core or do you need the full server installed?

  • A: Hosted Cache will work with server core.

Q: BranchCache in Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta seems to be broken. I can't create a shared folder that has BC enabled.

Q: Is the Problem Steps Recorder feature available on Windows Vista and Windows XP so I can show steps that work on an older operating system vs. Windows 7?

  • A: No. Problem Steps Recorder is only available on Windows 7.

Q: What happens when I take a BitLocker-encrypted USB stick to a non-Windows system like OSX or Linux?

  • A: The USB stick will not be accessible on OSX or Linux. You will be able to unlock the USB stick in read-only mode on Windows XP or Windows Vista, however.

Q: Is there documentation on the improvement on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) performance in Windows 7?

  • A: We have not released performance benchmarks at this time.

Q: Will Windows 7 run on a machine designed for Windows XP?

  • A: We have not yet determined final system requirements as the product is still in development. That said, one of our design principles is that Windows 7 will run well on any machine certified to run Windows Vista.

Q: When is Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) planned to be released?

  • A: The feedback we get in the early stages of Beta will help enable us to discuss the next Windows 7 milestone. Our goal with the Beta is to collect feedback and refine the features so we can deliver a great product that meets our customers’ needs.

We also received several questions around the smaller Windows 7 install footprint. The reason for the smaller footprint is the omission of several features now part of Windows Live. Here is a list of this features and where they can now be found:

For more information on Windows 7 evaluation, testing and adoption, please visit the Windows 7 tab on the Springboard Series on TechNet.

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