Still not moving to Windows 11 in your business? Microsoft has now released an update Windows 11 and Office 365 Deployment Lab Kit and Windows 11 Integration Toolkit to prepare business users to upgrade from Windows 10.
Windows 11 has yet to be rolled out into a wide range of businesses, but Microsoft chief Satya Nadella yesterday said the company is seeing “higher monthly usage of Windows 11 apps.” Perhaps to push things along, Microsoft has also released two toolkits to help users and IT admins get used to the post-Windows 10 world.
The Windows 11 and Office 365 Deployment Lab Kit is intended to help administrators plan, test, and validate modern desktops running Windows 11 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Enterprise applications.
Labs provides a Hyper-V dependent virtual lab environment that aims to mirror a modern enterprise. It includes domain federated clients, domain controllers, internal gateways, and a fully configured Configuration Manager instance.
Microsoft has published an extensive guide to using virtual labs, including Windows 11 deployment tools like Autopilot, configuring Windows Service for Windows 11 deployment, deploying Microsoft 365 apps locally and in the cloud. cloud, Edge management, and security configuration for everything from BitLocker encryption to Microsoft’s Cross-Platform Defender for Endpoint.
The main tools the lab mentions using include Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Office Customization Tool, OneDrive, and Windows Autopilot among others. It also includes Windows Services, which can be used to upgrade to Windows 11. The Windows Service upgrade relies on Configuration Manager and Windows Update for Business.
Meanwhile, Windows 11 Integration Kit is a collection of Office files containing templates and documents that help administrators communicate with users. Content can be customized as needed.
“With the Windows 11 Integration Toolkit, our goal is to also provide you with the materials you need to prepare, train, and support your end users in their Windows 11 journey,” Microsoft said. said in a Microsoft Tech Community blog post.
It aims to support the deployment of Windows 11 to all devices in a global enterprise.
Microsoft earlier this month released Windows 11 “guided emulation” demonstrates how similar Windows 11 is to Windows 10 while delivering new usability and security benefits. It guides the user through a number of the lesson Microsoft learned when it rolled out Windows 11 to 190,000 PCs last year.
Microsoft Windows revenue has been hit by the widespread PC industry downturn due to China’s COVID-19 shutdown in Shanghai. PC shipments fell 15% year-on-year in the second quarter, according to Canalys.
On Tuesday FY’22 Q’4 calls with investorsMicrosoft CFO Amy Hood says Windows OEM revenue has hit $300 million from the Shanghai shutdown. Windows OEM revenue fell 2% in the quarter.
However, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella was positive, noting that “we continue to see more PCs shipped before the pandemic and sharing”.
Microsoft did not disclose Windows 11 adoption figures but Nadella said it shows “monthly usage of Windows 11 apps is higher, with time spent creating, collaborating, gaming, media, and coding increasing…”
Additionally, Azure Virtual Desktop’s monthly active usage increased by nearly 60% year-over-year, according to Nadella.
