Learn About Windows 7 Through Microsoft's Online Events and Webcasts

Are you looking at a potential rollout of Windows 7 at your organization? Do you need to learn more about Microsoft’s (News - Alert) latest OS and determine how best to run it within your company? If so, Microsoft offers a website that may be of interest to you.

The company’s Events and Webcasts page offers a variety of webcasts, videos, virtual labs, and podcasts, all devoted to showing you the ins and outs of Windows 7 and help you determine how to integrate and manage it within your organization. In addition to learning about Windows 7 itself, you’ll find solid information on related tools and technologies that you may use at your company, including group policy, desktop virtualization, and Windows Server.

The different formats work well collectively in helping you understand the various aspects of Windows 7. For example, under webcasts you’ll find such topics as deploying Windows 7, migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7, and an overview of the features in Windows 7.

The webcasts themselves typically feature presentations by or interviews with key Microsoft people, run for about an hour, and can be viewed online or downloaded as WMV files.

The videos are shorter, typically only a few minutes, and offer demos that show you how to tap into specific features such as BitLocker, offline files, and Windows XP mode. The virtual labs provide you with your own online playground where you can try out different tools and technologies related to Windows 7, including Microsoft’s Application Compatibility Toolkit, the App-V virtualization software, and User Account Control. You simply follow a set of hands-on, step-by-step instructions to learn how these different features work.

Finally, the podcasts are downloadable audio presentations that cover a range of topics, from preparing for Windows 7 to creating a dual-boot configuration with Windows 7 and another OS. Since the podcasts are audio-only, you can listen to them while you work at your computer to set up the various features.

Beyond browsing the different events, you can search for specific ones by topic, date, presenter, and other criteria. You can narrow the focus still futher by looking for events just for IT professionals, developers, or IT executives. In addition to viewing pre-recorded video and audio presentations, you can also look through Microsoft’s Events page for upcoming live webcasts and in-person events.

I’ve checked out quite a few of the webcasts and have tried several of the virtual labs, and they provide a good working overview of Windows 7 and related products. Whether you’re deploying Windows 7 at your company or just want to learn more about it, these online events are a good place to start.