Rolling out windows 8 in a cooperate enviorment

shanerlb

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Bristol
Hi,
Has anyone rolled out/evaluated windows 8 in a cooperate envirorment, running on desktops and laptops.
I currently have have been assigned this project and I'm trying to get any feed back.

Currently i've tested a laptop with windows 8 pro connecting to a 2008 server cooperate, current issues are tiles appearing which I dont want in a cooperate envirorment. GPO's not working, and WMI scripts not running.

Any info would be greatly appreciated,

Regards

Shane
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 7
You can unpin or uninstall tiles you don't want to see. Use right click.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
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Thats great, I understand that, thankyou. But how do I rollout 300 machines with the correct tiles? there must be a way of controlling this?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 7

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
I am a memeber of technet and have published several threads on their forums, but not having a lot of information come back, which I find strange. I cant imagine there hasn't been any testing in a cooperate envirorment. I just trying to find out as much information as possible.

There must be someone else in the world, who has looked into this?

:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 7
Sorry I can't help more. But, just think you may be first in the universe to tackle this sort of task. :D But, your situation may not be that funny, actually. :sick::(:eek:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Your best bet for rolling out multiple machines may be to use Windows Deployment Services on a server, and Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and Windows Deployment Kit to build custom images that you can then deploy to your client machines. Both have recently been updated. The gist is that you create your image, "capture" it, and then boot your client machine into WDS, load the image from the network, and you're good to go. WAIK and WDK are free downloads from Microsoft. The downloads contain some very good documentation as well.

In theory at least if you set the UI tiles the way you want them on the "master" machine image, then they will be replicated to the clients.

Aside from all this a slightly simpler approach might be the use of imaging software. There may still be "sysprep" type work involved after you install the image (customize the machine name, install specific drivers for thay model of machine, etc.) but you would be assured of a consistent image across your client machines.

As for group policies, bear in mind that a Windows Server 2008 domain controller may not be able to control all things on a Windows 8 machine. I am sure that some Windows 8 settings have no meaning to an older OS. If you domain controller is Windows Server 2012, then it probably has the capability of managing some Windows 8 specific settings. Rolling out Windows Server 2012 is not something to take lightly, though: especially to a proudction domain controller.

You can use the "Resultant Set of Policy" tool on the domain controller to determine what policies are applied, from where, to a specific user who logs on to a specific machine in your domain. If there are no applicable site/domain/OU settings for a specific policy setting, individual machine policies can still be applied.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 x64
Thankyou Terry, We rolled out Windows 7 in a simular format, Its going to take alot of testing. I'm guessing that the Tiles are stored in your profile, Local or roaming.
I need to know What controls this access, can you give certain users access to the weather tile and others not? just an example.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 7
You might see what Technet says--purchase a membership or whatever. I'd say you have a problem-filled task ahead of you. Let us know how it works out. Can't imagine rolling out a new OS, especially Win8, in such an environment this soon and on this scale (not that it's huge).

Our corporation (about 20,000 employees) is rolling out Win7. Win8? No way. If (and that's a big IF here) they ever roll that out on desktops it will be 3 or 4 years down the road.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
Were waiting to get anumber of Surface pros in, when they come available. Protentially to replace the current ipads throughout the business, which we dont have alot of control over, also as part of the same project looking at windows 8 replacement desktops and Laptops so there is a common OS accross the business.

So currently I'm looking rolling out 10 windows 8 pro desktops as a pilot, But just rolling out the 10 is proving difficult.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 7
The explanation he offered for a pilot deployment of Windows 8 makes sense.

From what I have heard from others, fruity devices tend not to play nice in a Windows world.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 x64
Were waiting to get anumber of Surface pros in, when they come available. Protentially to replace the current ipads throughout the business, which we dont have alot of control over, also as part of the same project looking at windows 8 replacement desktops and Laptops so there is a common OS accross the business.

So currently I'm looking rolling out 10 windows 8 pro desktops as a pilot, But just rolling out the 10 is proving difficult.
This makes complete sense. I cannot help you much on this but I am VERY interested to hear how this goes. If you can please keep us updated. You are the first person I have come across with plans to roll out windows 8 in a corporate environment.

If I come across any info I will be sure to post it here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
I am a memeber of technet and have published several threads on their forums, but not having a lot of information come back, which I find strange. I cant imagine there hasn't been any testing in a cooperate envirorment. I just trying to find out as much information as possible.

There must be someone else in the world, who has looked into this?

:)

Believe it. Took us about 5 minutes of using the OS to uninstall and toss the disks on the shelf after testing it.

Copy and paste this and send it off to your execs.

"After evaluating Windows 8, I have determined that the best course of action is to wait until Microsoft releases Windows 9. We can continue to use Windows 7 which provides us with everything we need to operate our business."

Best part is that sticking with Windows 7 carries no additional cost.

You might get a promotion for this.

Let us know.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pssh. Who buys prebuilts?
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600k 3.4 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 520
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    Dual Asus 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 2160
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    OCZ SSD boot drive. Spinny secondary drive.
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    Diablotek
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    Air
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    Razer BlackWidow Toureny edition.
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    Logitech
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    50 down 10 up
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    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. AV is for noobs.
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    I like Macs.
Oh, and when they ask what's wrong with Windows 8, you can just point out that Windows 8 is nothing more than a test from Microsoft to force users into adopting the post PC tablet era, which is just not happening anytime soon.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pssh. Who buys prebuilts?
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600k 3.4 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 520
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Asus 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    OCZ SSD boot drive. Spinny secondary drive.
    Case
    Diablotek
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Razer BlackWidow Toureny edition.
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    50 down 10 up
    Browser
    FireFox
    Antivirus
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. AV is for noobs.
    Other Info
    I like Macs.
Oh, and when they ask what's wrong with Windows 8, you can just point out that Windows 8 is nothing more than a test from Microsoft to force users into adopting the post PC tablet era, which is just not happening anytime soon.

As "cool" as some may think Win8 is, I'm sorry - it offers nothing that a corporate user would even consider using on a desktop system. (I'm referring to the Metro side here). I can see, perhaps, corporations MAYBE integrating some surface tablets at some point, however even if they do that the users are going to be plugging the keyboards into them, setting them on a desktop or table and using the desktop side like they would any laptop. When on the plane they're going to use Metro to play solitaire, check the weather and do (for all practical purposes) non-productive type things. I'm sure corporations are going to invest in technology that gives their people more ways to waste time.

With that being the case why not just have a laptop? Betcha dollars-to-doughnuts that's exactly the reasoning going on in boardrooms right now.

You're not going to see Metro versions of Excel and Word anytime soon (I mean, let's get real here folks). Those are extremely mature products. Ditto that for any super-involved software offerings such as CAD/CAM, development tools, etc. Metro is at-best a consumer-level presentation layer. Microsoft has one hell of a long uphill climb if they have any aspirations of replacing the desktop system.

Some have said that Microsoft's aim is to get rid of the desktop. Get real. That just ain't going to happen. Augment it, MAYBE, replace it? No way.

On the consumer side, Metro is "OK" but after looking at it for a year-and-a-half I am not even a tiny bit tempted (as an individual user) to trade in my iPad or iPhone for anything running Metro. One of my colleagues has a Windows phone. It looks OK but pry the iPhone out of my (or many others) hands it certainly will not.

Do I hate Win8? No. Most of you know me here, I don't hate any technology. I just don't see a bright future for Microsoft on this one.

-Max
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 17R / Dell XPS 8300
    CPU
    Intel i5 (17R) / Intel i7 (XPS)
    Memory
    8GB / 8GB
I agree with the person who mentioned Windows Automated Installation Kit & windows images.

I've never upgraded windows 8 machines with enterprise level, but within the last year I've done the same with windows 7.

If you have an enterprise license (which I assume you do), create the perfect image, then redistribute.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 pro 64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    Altheimers
    Graphics Card(s)
    Dual ATI
Oh, and when they ask what's wrong with Windows 8, you can just point out that Windows 8 is nothing more than a test from Microsoft to force users into adopting the post PC tablet era, which is just not happening anytime soon.

As "cool" as some may think Win8 is, I'm sorry - it offers nothing that a corporate user would even consider using on a desktop system. (I'm referring to the Metro side here). I can see, perhaps, corporations MAYBE integrating some surface tablets at some point, however even if they do that the users are going to be plugging the keyboards into them, setting them on a desktop or table and using the desktop side like they would any laptop. When on the plane they're going to use Metro to play solitaire, check the weather and do (for all practical purposes) non-productive type things. I'm sure corporations are going to invest in technology that gives their people more ways to waste time.

With that being the case why not just have a laptop? Betcha dollars-to-doughnuts that's exactly the reasoning going on in boardrooms right now.

You're not going to see Metro versions of Excel and Word anytime soon (I mean, let's get real here folks). Those are extremely mature products. Ditto that for any super-involved software offerings such as CAD/CAM, development tools, etc. Metro is at-best a consumer-level presentation layer. Microsoft has one hell of a long uphill climb if they have any aspirations of replacing the desktop system.

Some have said that Microsoft's aim is to get rid of the desktop. Get real. That just ain't going to happen. Augment it, MAYBE, replace it? No way.

On the consumer side, Metro is "OK" but after looking at it for a year-and-a-half I am not even a tiny bit tempted (as an individual user) to trade in my iPad or iPhone for anything running Metro. One of my colleagues has a Windows phone. It looks OK but pry the iPhone out of my (or many others) hands it certainly will not.

Do I hate Win8? No. Most of you know me here, I don't hate any technology. I just don't see a bright future for Microsoft on this one.

-Max

There are several reasons to use Windows 8 on the Desktop side regardless of the new apps. Dealing with fewer nuisance updates, faster startups from shutdown through Hybrid Boot, Automatic Maintenance tasks, improved Action Center, built in anti-virus through Windows Defender, Ribbon UI in Explorer, improved device driver support, very well improved security features such as system wide SmartScreen among other things, Hyper-V if that's applicable, a better Task Manager that even simpletons can use, and just overall stable zippy performance.

Given the option between Windows 7 and 8 to deploy, 8 would be less of a hassle to deal with after a few months. There will be user issues with the Start Screen, but if the Start Screen is configured purely for the Desktop, all that needs to be shown is that the Start button is there but hidden and works the same, and the Settings Charms to shut down. Heck, one could even make the power tiles right there in a separate group.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I believe there is a thread I recently just came across where someone posted where the user config file for the Start Screen is at, theoretically a master image should keep the Start Screen layout, and Windows will adjust it to fit the screen resolution of the monitor on the PC being used. I'll need to find that thread....

Group Policy can be used to enforce that NO apps are installed, NO access to the Windows Store is allowed, and/or NO apps can be updated. You can uninstall all the superfluous apps, disable them if needed, and pin pretty much every Desktop item from File Explorer as well as programs onto Start. Essentially, you'd be setting up a Windows Server 2012 Start Screen. Actually, I wonder if you can also disable the Share and Devices charms.... Then that'd be a more Server 2012 setup minus the server part.

As for your scripts, not a bloody clue. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
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