Introduction to the Windows® Assessment and Deployment Kit

Microsoft Corporation

September 2011

Applies To:

Windows® Developer Preview

Windows Server® Developer Preview

Summary

This paper describes the Windows® Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) and how

the tools included in the Windows ADK enable OEMs and IHVs to deliver outstanding hardware

and software experiences on the Windows operating system.

Contents

Introduction to the Assessment and Deployment Kit....................................................................... 3

Benefits ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Consumers want quality ............................................................................................................... 3

Assessments help you improve quality ........................................................................................ 4

The Windows ADK helps you build what customers want ........................................................... 5

Get the Windows ADK ................................................................................................................. 5

Appendix A: Windows ADK contents ........................................................................................... 5

Appendix B: Related Windows kits .............................................................................................. 6

Copyright Information ...................................................................................................................... 6

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Introduction to the Assessment and Deployment Kit

The Windows® Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) contains the tools and

documentation that you need to deploy Windows to new computers and to review and improve

the quality of those computers. The Windows ADK enables two key scenarios: Windows

deployment and system assessments.

Windows deployment is intended for OEMs and IT professionals who want to customize and

automate the installation of Windows in their factories or organizations. In addition to new

tools, the Windows ADK includes the deployment tools that were previously released as part

of the Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) and the Windows Automated

Installation Kit (Windows AIK).

Assessments are a new set of tools that measure the quality attributes of a computer,

including overall performance, energy efficiency, and battery consumption. The results of

these assessments are used to diagnose potential problems, ensuring that the hardware and

software that you develop are responsive and have a minimal impact to battery life and

startup and shutdown times. The same assessments are available to OEMs, ODMs, IHVs,

software developers, IT Professionals, PC enthusiasts, and others who want to review and

compare performance aspects of a computer.

In addition to the Assessment Toolkit, the Windows Performance Toolkit lets you track

detailed system information and resource usage. This tool displays real-time data and

diagnostics quickly and easily, ensuring that you have a complete view of the system to help

you tune performance.

Benefits The Windows ADK maximizes consumer satisfaction by:

Helping you to assess the overall experience of Windows, value-added software and drivers,

and hardware configurations

Providing detailed system data that can help identify the root causes of quality issues

Reducing costs by revealing issues during development

Developing, managing and deploying Windows images on test systems

Comparing results from different computers or the same set of computers over time

Generating feedback to improve the quality of products

Consumers want quality Quality is the top concern for consumers when they shop for new computers. Consumers

demand that computers be reliable, durable, and high-performing. Although there are different

ways to measure "quality", many customers attribute the term to the overall user experience and

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rapid responsiveness of the system. Computers have to be not only quick and durable, but also

be a delight to use. Consumers expect that a computer works just like any other consumer-

electronics device in their home. They are expected to be always on, always connected, and

support a wide variety of uses.

In-store usage experiences for customers are critical. Often, customers form opinions of the

responsiveness of a system within seconds, based on their experience in the store. Any delay in

performance has an immediate negative impact and strongly affects future purchase decisions.

The combination of Windows, software, and hardware defines the consumer’s experience, and all

aspects of the computer must be responsive and beautiful. Delighting customers with a

consistently reliable and high-performing system improves brand awareness, loyalty, and future

purchase intent. Consumers share their great experiences with friends and positive experiences

can be widely viewed across the Internet on review sites and social media.

Assessments help you improve quality Making the initial customer experience a delight is important, but it is equally important that the

same level of quality is maintained over time. The Windows ADK contains the tools that you need

to evaluate and compare overall system quality. By using these tools, you can measure different

aspects of computer performance across a variety of scenarios, from boot time to battery-life

performance to high-definition video streaming. Assessments can identify potential issues,

inconsistent behavior, and highlight areas to investigate. The same assessments are available for

OEM partners, ISV/IHV partners, enthusiasts, and other members of the community, to establish

a common framework to measure, compare, and review aspects of quality.

Assessments are used in different scenarios:

Run assessments against a single computer or small collection of computers with the

Windows Assessment Console (Windows AC). This scenario is intended for IT Professionals

or PC enthusiasts who want to view performance characteristics on a handful of different

computer configurations. For example, you can review video performance across different

video cards on the same system.

Run assessments against multiple computers in a lab environment with Windows

Assessment Services (Windows AS). This scenario is primarily for OEMs who want to run a

suite of qualitative assessments against a complete line of desktops, laptops, or slate

computers in a pre-manufacturing environment.

Assessments are not intended to be used by Microsoft to define a specific quality bar or suggest

a baseline performance. Instead, OEMs and IHVs make performance decisions according to their

needs. While all computers that are certified by Microsoft must adhere to the quality standards

defined by the Windows Hardware Certification Program, OEMs and IHVs can use assessments

to evaluate quality and performance that exceeds this minimum bar.

In previous Windows releases, multiple tools were available to measure quality, including Velocity

Test Suite (VTS/VOS), Fundamental Quality Tools Suite (FQTS), and System Power and

Performance Tools Suite (SPPTS). The Assessment toolkit combines the functionality from

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previous performance-diagnostic tools into an integrated set of tools that is easier to use and

provides broader, more meaningful results.

The Windows ADK helps you build what customers want Quality influences purchase intent, and assessments promote a great customer experience for

Windows Developer Preview software and hardware. By evaluating system performance before

deployment, you can make sure that the overall system is responsive and that consumers will be

delighted with the speed and capabilities of their computer. PC enthusiasts are also encouraged

to use assessments to review and tune the performance of their computers.

The Windows ADK provides a complete solution for you to evaluate system performance and

automate the deployment of Windows to computers. After you evaluate the performance of your

hardware and software, use the deployment and imaging tools in the Windows ADK to automate

the manufacturing process, saving you time and money.

Get the Windows ADK MSDN subscribers can download and install the Windows ADK from:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=221062.

Appendix A: Windows ADK contents The Windows ADK includes the following suite of tools:

Tool Description

Deployment Tools Tools to customize Windows images and to

automate installation and image management.

Includes Deployment Imaging Servicing and

Management tool (DISM), Windows System

Image Manager (Windows SIM), Windows Help

& Support customization tools, and User State

Migration Tool (USMT).

Assessment Toolkit Tools to measure and optimize aspects of

quality and performance of a computer.

Includes Assessments, Windows Assessment

Console (Windows AC) and Windows

Assessment Services (Windows AS).

Windows Performance Toolkit Tools to analyze system and application

performance. Includes Windows Performance

Analyzer and Windows Performance Recorder.

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Tool Description

Application Compatibility Toolkit Enables IT professionals to evaluate and

mitigate application compatibility issues before

deploying a new version of Windows or a new

version of Internet Explorer.

Volume Activation Management Tool IT Professional tool that automates and

manages the activation of Windows, Windows

Server, and Office 2010. For more information

Assessment Tools

Windows Assessment Console

Windows Assessment Services

Windows Performance Tools

Windows Performance Toolkit

Deployment tools

Application Compatibility Toolkit

Deployment & Imaging Tools

User State Migration Tool

Volume Activation Management Tool

Windows Preinstallation Environment

Appendix B: Related Windows kits In Windows Developer Preview, Microsoft is aligning related tools and technologies into a set of

kits, reducing the number of independently released tools. In addition to the Assessment and

Deployment kit, the related kits that support Windows Developer Preview are:

Software Development Kit . This kit enables software vendors to build applications and

software solutions for Windows.

Windows Driver Kit. This kit enables hardware vendors and OEMs to develop quality

hardware and software solutions that work together to create a responsive and reliable

system.

Windows Hardware Certification Kit. This kit enables hardware vendors and OEMs to

certify their devices and PCs to ensure a minimum level of quality and functionality. Hardware

certification improves customer perception of reliability and influences purchase intent.

Copyright Information

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change without notice.

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