There's no doubt in our minds that writing for TechNet Magazine is the most prestigious—and rewarding—job anyone could have. (Of course, it would be even more rewarding if we actually got paid, but that's another story.) Just how prestigious is this job? Let's put it this way: right now, all over the world, children who are being tucked into bed are looking up at their mothers and saying, "Mommy, when I grow up, I want to write a monthly scripting column for TechNet Magazine."

The average person considers system administration scripting to be extremely useful but probably not very exciting; in fact, he or she likely finds scripting a bit humdrum. And here's the reason: each of these people haven't tried writing boot configuration data scripts in either Windows Vista® or Windows Server® 2008.

Ah, yes, that raised your heart rate a beat or two, didn't it? As most of you reading this probably know, in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the old boot.ini file has been discarded in favor of a new boot configuration data store that provides increased flexibility (and capabilities) when it comes to managing the boot process.