The tools let IT professionals configure roles and features remotely. They support both x86 and x64 hardware, but need to run with particular versions of Windows 7. Microsoft describes those versions as the Business Edition, Enterprise Edition and Ultimate Edition of Windows 7, which haven't been released yet. Windows 7 (Build 7000) is currently available only as a beta, but it's similar to the Ultimate Edition, according to Microsoft.
"The Windows 7 Beta will be only available in one edition, which is roughly equivalent [to] the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista," explained Brandon LeBlanc, a Window 7 team blogger.
Adding the tools involves first removing similar remote management tools used with Windows Vista Service Pack 1, including "all versions of Administration Tools Pack," according to Microsoft's instructions. Just one copy of the tools can be installed on an IT pro's computer at a time.
The tools add a number of management features to the desktop, including Server Manager, Active Directory tools, DHCP server tools, DNS server tools and Hyper-V tools. The tools enable password recovery, group policy management and network load balancing. Microsoft lists some features here.
The release of the Windows 7 Remote Server Administration Tools followed Microsoft's Windows 7 Beta release by just one day. That's a quick turnaround -- at least compared with Windows Vista, in which the tools lagged the operating system's release by one year, according to one blogger.
The blogger noted that an extra step is needed after installing the tools. You have to turn on Windows features in the Control Panel to get them to appear under Administrative Tools.
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