Servicing Options - Microsoft products Life Cycle - CB CBB LTSB

Recently Microsoft introduced new product upgrades as Servicing Options.

In enterprise IT environments, the desire to provide users with the latest technologies needs to be balanced with the need for manageability and cost control. 

In the past, many enterprises managed their products up-gradation and Purchase new / Upgraded versions of products about every three to six years. 

Today, the rapid evolution of Technology experiences is causing businesses to rethink their strategies. Especially with the release of Windows 10 & Microsoft Azure, there are good business reasons to keep a significant portion of your enterprise's devices current with the latest release of Microsoft products.

Streamlined the Microsoft product engineering and release cycle so that Microsoft can deliver the features, experiences, and functionality customers want, more quickly than ever.

Created new ways to deliver and install feature upgrades and servicing updates that simplify deployments and on-going management, broaden the base of employees who can be kept current with the latest MS capabilities and experiences, and lower total cost of ownership.

Implemented new servicing options – referred to as 

1) Current Branch (CB)

2) Current Branch for Business (CBB)

3) Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB)

That provide pragmatic solutions to keep more devices more current in enterprise environments than was previously possible.

Windows 10 release CB & CBB & LTSB find the related article  https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mt679505.aspx 

In just one word Software as a Service - SAAS is all about above lines.

Servicing option	Availability of new feature upgrades for installation	Minimum length of servicing lifetime	Key benefits	Supported editions
Current Branch (CB)	Immediately after first published by Microsoft	Approximately 4 months	Makes new features available to users as soon as possible	Home, Pro, Education, Enterprise, IoT Core, Windows 10 IoT Core Pro (IoT Core Pro)
Current Branch for Business (CBB)	Approximately 4 months after first published by Microsoft	Approximately 8 months	Provides additional time to test new feature upgrades before deployment	Pro, Education, Enterprise, IoT Core Pro
Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB)	Immediately after published by Microsoft	10 Years	Enables long-term deployment of selected Windows 10 releases in low-change configurations	Enterprise LTSB

SCCM Task Sequence WMI logic for Models Based Drivers Deployment

SCCM Task Sequence OS Drivers apply based on Models with help of WMI Query

For Models check we can write as NAMESPACE Root\CIMV2

Select *From Win32_ComputerSystem Where Model LIKE "%X260%"

The above is if WMI matches however if we want a query for not equals then ?

WMI query for if Model is not equals

Select * From Win32_ComputerSystem Where NOT Model LIKE "%M800%"

WMI Query for If Manufacture like

SELECT*From Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer LIKE “%Dell%”
SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer LIKE “%Hewlett-Packard%”

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer LIKE “%Microsoft Corporation%” 

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer LIKE “%VMware%”

WMI Query for If Manufacture NOT like

SELECT*From Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE NOT Manufacturer LIKE “%Dell%”
SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE NOT Manufacturer LIKE “%Hewlett-Packard%”

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE NOT Manufacturer LIKE “%Microsoft Corporation%” 

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE NOT Manufacturer LIKE “%VMware%”

Find  32 or 64-bit Operating System in task Sequence WMI logic
SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE SystemType LIKE “%x64-based PC%”
SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE SystemType LIKE “%x86-based PC%”

For BitLocker:

TO CHECK TPM model status active / this will be used for Pre-requisites for Bitlocker

NAMESPACE: Root\CIMV2\Security\MicrosoftTPM

Select * From Win32_TPM Where IsActivated_InitialValue = False

Select * From Win32_TPM Where IsActivated_InitialValue = True

Determin your WinPE versions

WinPE Version	PE Version	Derived From
WinPE 1.5	5.1.x	Win XP SP2
WinPE 2.0	6.0.x	Vista
WinPE 3.0	6.1.7600.16385	Windows 7
WinPE 4.0	6.2.x	Windows 8
WinPE 5.0	6.3.x	Windows 8.1
10.0.10240.16384	10.0.10240.16384	Windows 10

as part of Microsofts "One Windows" policy i.e., included in Windows ADK (Windows KITS 10) from windows 10 onwords for WinPE 10 and Windows 10 both share the same version numbering

How Win10 and SCCM will fit together

Microsoft formally announced how Win10 and SCCM will fit together going forward.

SCCM product manager:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2015/10/27/system-center-configmgr-support-for-win-10-and-intune.aspx 

Higher level explanation from the Microsoft VP about why the changes are happening:  http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud/archive/2015/10/27/the-future-of-configuration-manager.aspx

MVP

Alternatives for Microsoft Load Balancing

What are the Alternatives for Microsoft Load Balancing: below are few which are famous for their brand  :)

o    F5 Networks

o    Barracuda

o    Citrix NetScaler

o    KEMP

o    Cisco ACE

Differences between App-V 4.6 and App-V 5.0

App-V 4.6		App-V 5.0
Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.x desktop OS support		Windows 7 and 8.x desktop OS support
Windows Server 2003, 2008 and 2008 R2 Server OS Support		Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 Server OS Support
Dynamic Suite Composition (DSC)		Connection Groups
Primary Virtual Application Directory (PVAD)		PVAD no longer required prior to sequencing
Limited Shell Extension Support		Extended Shell Extension Support
Limited ActiveX Support		Improved ActiveX Support
Shared Read Only Cache		Shared Content Store
.SFT package file format		.APPV package file format
Packages are backwards compatible with earlier versions		No backward compatibility; Converter Tool or Sequence again.
.OSD		.XML Dynamic Deployment/User Configuration
Sfttray.exe for application launch		Application .exe initiated directly
Application reboot simulated by Sequencer		Application reboot physically actioned during Sequencing
RTSPS, RTSP, HTTP, HTTPS and SMB streaming		HTTP, HTTPS and SMB streaming
SFTMIME/SFTTRAY commands on client and SFTSEQUENCER command line for sequencer		PowerShell commands on client, sequencer and server
Q: Drive		No mount drive on sequencer or client
Sftlog.txt and Event Log error reporting		Moved to Applications and Services Event Logs
SFTFS.FSD cache file		File/Folder structure in %PROGRAMDATA%
Default isolation of applications		Default isolation of application apart from Virtual Application Extensions
MMC Management Server Console		Management Server Silverlight web console
ApplicationSourceRoot		PackageSourceRoot

 

 

Above are the  Differences between App-V 4.6 and App-V 5.0

Migration from APP-V 4.6 to 5.0 with SP3