We are pleased to announce the RC1 release and new name for the fourth generation deployment Solution Accelerator, Microsoft Deployment. The current generation of automated deployment tools from Microsoft is increasingly unified; the same tools, utilities and products in many cases offer support and functionality for desktop and server deployment tasks. Following the trend of unified tools, the Business Desktop Deployment team has incorporated new functionality and guidance to support automated server deployment in addition to desktop deployment capabilities. This expanded feature set, with its guidance and ability to automate installation of Windows client and server operating systems - as well as applications - has effectively outgrown the current name, Business Desktop Deployment. Previous Beta releases have been using the code name "Deployment 4" to refer to Microsoft Deployment before the name was finalized.

Microsoft Deployment is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. It unifies the tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment into a common deployment console and collection of guidance. Microsoft Deployment adds integration with current Microsoft deployment technologies - System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Windows Deployment Services, and the Windows Automated Installation Kit - to create a single path for image creation and automated installation. Microsoft Deployment adds integration with recently released Microsoft deployment technologies to create a single path for image creation and deployment, including: