Breaking News: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 is RTW
RTW = Released to the Webitubes
Wow.. what a big week. The System Center 2012 release, the official naming of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, and now the newest version of the MDT - Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 – is released and available for download.
For those not familiar with it, the MDT is “a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment.” Here is the overview from the download page:
Overview
Deploy Windows 7, Office 2010 and 365, and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the newly released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012. MDT is the recommended process and toolset for automating desktop and server deployment. MDT provides you with the following benefits:
- Unified tools and processes, including a set of guidance, for deploying desktops and servers in a common deployment console.
- Reduced deployment time and standardized desktop and server images, along with improved security and ongoing configuration management.
Some of the key changes in MDT 2012 are:
- Comprehensive tools and guidance to efficiently manage large-scale deployments of Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 365.
- An enhanced user-Driven Installation (UDI) deployment method that utilizes System Center Configuration Manager 2012. UDI lets end users initiate and customize an OS deployment on their PCs—via an easy-to-use wizard.
- Ease Lite Touch installation through integration with Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT).
- This release provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a lab environment.
Highlighting was my own. Notice that this is a good start in helping you gear up for your Windows 8 deployments.
And for even more information, be sure to check out the Microsoft Solution Accelerators page, and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Team Blog.