Stephen L Rose of Windows Team Blog announced availability of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010:

We are pleased to announce the release of MDT 2010 available for download here. 

MDT 2010 has been in planning and development for a little over a year and is our largest release to date with over 70% of our code changing since MDT 2008. MDT 2010 has also been tested throughout our Beta and Release Candidate versions by well over 10,000 IT professionals around the world.  We appreciate all of the feedback you have given and without your help this release would not have been possible.

Michael Niehaus did a great series of blog posts on most of the new features of MDT 2010. You can review those posts here.

Please make sure you review the release notes for instructions on how to upgrade from MDT 2008 or one of the beta releases of MDT 2010 here.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING THIS RELEASE POSSIBLE!

Dell today introduced new products and services designed specifically to meet the needs of medium and small businesses by simplifying operations, reducing downtime, enhancing information security and reducing operating cost.

The new portfolio includes four 11th Generation Dell PowerEdge servers; Lifecycle Controller 1.2 embedded systems management; the PowerVault NX300 network attached storage (NAS) device; Dell Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) and Dell ProConsult services to help growing businesses achieve greater IT efficiency. The new solutions and services are available through Dell or any of the company’s more than 50,000 Global PartnerDirect Channel Partners.

Simple, Reliable and Secure Technology:

• Simple: Dell has developed an integrated set of hardware, software and services to help small businesses improve their efficiency.
  • Small businesses can enjoy easy set up, monitoring, and maintenance with the inclusion of advanced systems management technologies now on all Dell PowerEdge servers.
  • Dell Lifecycle Controller 1.2, simplifies the deployment of new server platforms by automating the operating system installation of local and remote servers for small businesses and large enterprises alike. It saves time and money by including the correct drivers for all the operating systems and components pre-loaded on Dell PowerEdge servers. Lifecycle Controller 1.2 further simplifies system management through integration with popular IT management consoles: BMC Software BladeLogic Operations Manager and Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager for fast and easy installation of one or more servers across networks.
  • The new Dell PowerEdge T110 and T310 tower servers and the R210 and R510 rack servers are equipped with the new Intel Xeon 3400 series processor for the performance necessary to run business workloads with the Microsoft Windows Server® 2008 R2 operating system to provide excellent value for smaller organizations:
    • The PowerEdge T110 is a customer inspired first server for small businesses, with a desktop sized chassis and the right combination of security, basic systems management for easy system monitoring and reliability.
    • The PowerEdge R210 is an ideal first rack server for a small business with space constraints or can be used as a specialized application server for larger corporations. Because of its small 15.5 inch chassis depth and its low wattage power supply, the PowerEdge R210 has the smallest energy footprint of any Dell PowerEdge server.
    • Dell servers are engineered to save energy and save you money. The PowerEdge R210 is 88 percent more energy efficient than the previous generation and the PowerEdge T310 is 65 percent more energy efficient than its predecessor.
  • The Dell PowerVault NX300 is an entry-level Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 NAS solution that offers the capability to store up to 4 terabytes of data in a single device while offering the flexibility to deploy additional NX300 arrays as storage needs grow. The NX300 includes Single-Instant Storage deduplication technology to maximize capacity and an intuitive management interface to help deploy quickly and make ongoing management more efficient.
• Reliable: Dell PowerEdge servers backed up by a comprehensive suite of Dell Uninterruptible Power Supplies are the cornerstone of a reliable IT infrastructure, and come equipped with rugged chassis, solid design, metal hard drive carriers and components to withstand all IT environments and help reduce downtime.
  • The PowerEdge R510 is an ideal 2U rack server for mid-sized business and remote offices that require an excellent balance of internal storage, redundancy and value in compact chassis.
  • Dell unveiled 28 new uninterruptible power supply products with an efficiency rating of up to 95 percent, providing reduced down time and enhanced reliability. The new UPS systems offer remote monitoring through Dell’s OpenManage management console and include downloadable flash upgrades and UPS management software. The line of UPS solutions include tool-less rack mounting, multi-language graphical LCD displays and improved acoustics.
• Secure: Dell provides security features, data storage and support services for data protection, data back-up and recovery to ensure business continuity and to help businesses operate efficiently.
  • The PowerEdge T310 offers growing businesses a tower server complete with optional advanced systems management capabilities including remote management, full redundancy and cost effective RAID options that help to prevent data loss by further protecting the way your data is stored on your internal hard drives.
  • The PowerEdge T110 tower server and R210 rack server offer the ability to add external eSATA storage directly to ease the transition of data from a desktop or workstation to a first server.
  • Dell ProSupport Data Protection Services such as Hard Drive Data Recovery and Certified Data Destruction help organizations protect their business operations by protecting their data through risk mitigation and improved data security.

Virtualization: 
Dell is delivering solutions and services to help simplify the adoption and use of virtual environments.

• Dell offers tested and validated Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Solutions with enhanced virtualization capabilities with Hyper-V™. Hyper-V with live migration is an easy solution for moving virtual machines from one server to another without any disruption or loss of service. In addition, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enables Windows and other desktop environments to be run and managed on virtual machines on a centralized server.
• Dell has designed services specifically for medium and small businesses looking to cost effectively plan, deploy and manage growing IT environments, without requiring long-term consultative or outsourcing agreements. The Dell ProConsult Remote Virtualization Readiness Assessment helps assess IT environments to determine consolidation opportunities and provide recommendations for implementing an optimal solution designed to maximize performance and efficiency.

The new PowerEdge T110, T310, R210 and R510 servers are available starting in September atwww.dell.com/PowerEdge with a starting price of $599. The PowerVault NX300 is available in October onwww.dell.com/PowerVault with a starting price of $3,000. Dell uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are available in October at www.dellUPS.com/ starting at $269.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 10, 2009 - HP today announced the latest version of its HP Exstream enterprise software, a single solution for streamlined design through delivery of customer communications across the enterprise, regardless of complexity, variability or output channel – including high-volume, on-demand and interactive document applications.

HP Exstream 7.0 includes more than 250 enhancements and emerges from a development cycle that included testing and deployment by more than 50 HP Exstream customers worldwide. The new release is already in production at several customer sites.

“We selected HP Exstream to replace our legacy document automation solution,” said Jim Lucanish, general manager of O’Neil Data Systems, a Los Angeles-based technology-driven publishing company. “With HP Exstream 7.0 and the high-speed HP Inkjet Web Press we have a single solution to provide more robust personalized communications for our wide range of customers – whether they want statements, welcome packets, personalized newspapers or election ballots.”

Improved support for interactive document applications

Enhancements such as the ability to automate sections and paragraphs and the inclusion of bar codes can be used for complex interactive document applications, including fully personalized transactional documents and contracts, agreements, policies, letters and business forms.

Rich content can now be retrieved by the HP Exstream LiveEditor directly from enterprise content management (ECM) and business process management (BPM) systems, web applications, and SharePoint, and then sent back to these sources for updates after editing.

Other significant capabilities include security features such as confidential masking of information, role-based editing and expiration certificates, as well as many new user productivity tools, including custom dictionaries in multiple languages and extended workflow and repository capabilities.

Significant enhancements for on-demand communications

The new web services interface eliminates the need to program Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) connectivity, and support for PDF digital signatures and 128-bit encryption ensures secure and credible delivery of documents.

This release also includes new connectors for delivery of on-demand communications through email and cell phone (SMS) channels, as well as other significant enhancements for .NET and J2EE deployments.

Fully enhanced remote collaboration

The completely upgraded remote collaboration capability in HP Exstream 7.0 makes it easier, faster and more cost-effective for marketing and business users to incorporate fully personalized messages into documents at run time using a web browser.

The new console allows customers to fully customize the interface to support their brands, including color, text and images. Additionally, this release improves productivity for document Smart Proofing and provides users the ability to customize documents with text and images, add inserter bar codes to control production processes, and gain control over campaign message timing.

Extended support for global document applications and U.S. section 508 compliance

HP Exstream 7.0 expands support for multilingual customer communications, including PDF enhancements for region-specific font subsetting, reference fonts and Asian font packs, as well as multilingual tagging.

Double-byte character set (DBCS) support has been extended for Linux and SISO data viewing, and now enables PowerPoint, RTF and single-file HTML output. Additionally, this release adds reading tools for the visually impaired, ensuring PDF output is compliant with section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act.⁽¹⁾

Expanded design and production capabilities further reduce costs

HP Exstream 7.0 includes numerous enhancements that allow enterprises to further improve overall productivity and reduce total cost of ownership, including:

• New conversion utilities for migrating from legacy document composition systems such as DocuMerge, DocuMaker and Top Down
• Extended support for QuarkXpress and RTF designs
• Improved output compare tools for testing
• Ability to embed bar codes into automated tables
• Wizard-based charting and new chart types
• Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) output improvements for color support, outline fonts and DBCS

“Today’s announcement strengthens HP’s unmatched integrated workflow solutions portfolio and continues our commitment to delivering market-leading innovations in enterprise document automation technology for companies around the world,” said Jon Firooz, senior director, Enterprise Software Strategy and Market Management, HP. “Our goal is to continue providing high-quality, global technology leadership so our customers can meet their complex business challenges today and in the future.”

HP Exstream is currently deployed at more than 500 customer sites worldwide in a variety of industries, including financial services, banking, insurance, utilities, government, telecommunications, service provider, travel and hospitality, and retail. Now being offered through the HP Managed Print Services portfolio, HP Exstream will be offered to an even broader base of enterprise customers. The combining of these capabilities further extends the customer support for mission-critical solutions.

More information is available at www.hpexstream.com. HP also will be demonstrating HP Exstream 7.0 at PRINT 09 in Chicago in booth No. 6658.