Free ebook: Deploying Windows 10: Automating deployment by using System Center Configuration Manager

We’re happy to announce the release of our newest free ebook, Deploying Windows 10: Automating deployment by using System Center Configuration Manager (ISBN 9781509301867), by Andre Della Monica, Russ Rimmerman, Alessandro Cesarini, and Victor Silveira.

Get a head start deploying Windows 10—with tips and best practices from experts in the field. This guide shows you how to deploy Windows 10 in an automated way without impacting end users by leveraging System Center Configuration Manager, which is the most used product to deploy Microsoft operating systems in the industry today.

Foreword

Windows 10 represents a major paradigm shift for Microsoft and the Windows ecosystem in general as we modernize the platform by introducing “as a service” capabilities. Hundreds of millions of devices are already running Windows 10 today. Businesses are beginning to evaluate the new capabilities of Windows 10, including Windows as a service, as part of their deployment plans. With Windows 7 recently transitioning into extended support, businesses need to begin planning for the future of their Windows operating system environment.

Although there are many aspects to consider in managing a Windows device, one of the essential early stages of the lifecycle is deployment. More than 70 percent of businesses use System Center Configuration Manager for PC management, and that market share continues to grow every quarter. Configuration Manager is an industry leader, and the Operating System Deployment (OSD) feature is one of the most popular and frequently used. The product supports many traditional operating system deployment methods as well as support for newer Windows 10 deployment scenarios such as in-place upgrade.

Andre, Alessandro, Victor, and Russ are seasoned Microsoft premier field engineers with deep technical product knowledge and real-world experience. In this book, they share this knowledge and experience with Windows 10 and Configuration Manager to help you get your deployment underway.

Aaron Czechowski
Senior program manager, Enterprise Client Management product team

Introduction

The world, Microsoft, and the technology industry have all changed. There is no longer a half decade, or two or even three years for operating system (OS) upgrade cycles. Companies demand a continuous flow of productivity in their businesses.

Despite all of the logistics and costs involved when upgrading to a new OS by using the wipe-and-load method, companies and enterprises often developed their own methods to upgrade their operating systems because there was not much control and predictability provided by the upgrade process.

Even though deploying Windows 10 is a fairly new task—Windows 10 was released in July, 2015—most enterprises plan to deploy Microsoft’s new revolutionary OS, which addresses the challenges of the traditional OS deployments, and it brings new features and security enhancements, to name but a few of the new capabilities of Windows 10.

As the authors of this book, we have called upon our real-world field experience to provide you with insights and tips on why and how to implement Windows 10 and its deployment using System Center Configuration Manager.

Here’s what the book contains:

Chapter 1 provides highlights of what’s new in Windows 10 and why you should implement it.

Chapter 2 familiarizes you with the Windows 10 deployment options as well as with some tips about which deployment methods to use when planning to upgrade to Windows 10.

Chapter 3 examines the Operating System Deployment (OSD) concepts to prepare you for deployment when using System Center Configuration Manager.

Chapter 4 is intended to be a walk-through—a tour of how to deploy Windows 10 using System Center Configuration Manager and its details.