The year 2012 is the number in this experimenting afternoon. The new products (for me at least) all have the 2012 in their name/version.
During starting with a Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 Test Lab, I also got acquainted with Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012.
When you have used Windows 8 before it’s really not that different from Windows 7 as you might think. The biggest tip is to use the StartButton and start typing where you’re looking for just like you would when not browsing the Win7 startmenu folders.
To discover what programs are available after logging in to any Windows 8 of Server 2012 I’ve found an easy way for myself. This is really due to the missing start-menu you were used to. You can always go to %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. This is actually the real location for the Windows start-menu since Windows Vista was released.
Especially Server Manager has become quite nice and I also life the way of thinking with the controlling other “core servers” (without GUI) for the future when more servers could be needed to separate roles.
The nex few resources really have helped me a lot building this SCCM Lab:
Install Guide – ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Beta + Server 2012 + SQL 2012 CU 3:
http://myitforum.com/myitforumwp/2012/09/16/install-guide-configmgr-2012-sp1-beta-server-2012-sql-2012-cu-3
Using SCCM 2012 RC in a LAB – Part 1. Installation:
http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4422-using-sccm-2012-rc-in-a-lab-part-1-installation/
Their references to Microsoft Technet and KB articles are the official documentation and reference but these working-outs on the blogs are much more easy to read!
After installation and setup I’ll start with the Windows 7 OS Deployment. Even with this relative old Windows version I can still learn a lot. Using MDT2012 and SCCM 2012 and finding the differences between them is the goal. The fact is the additions MDT brings are not (all) used a lot of the times.
The next few advantages from Microsoft Deployment Toolkit are listed by me:
- Free and quite easy to set up for small organizations
- Fast set up of an advanced tasksequence with automation steps ready.
- The Gather step that inventories quite some details for you to use in more rules.
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