NAP + Vista = exciting times

Hi everyone. As we get closer to the release of Vista I wanted to give everyone an update on how things are going for Network Access Protection (NAP). And things are going great! It is an exciting time because we are closing in on completing a huge milestone for NAP - the release of the NAP client with latest and best operating system yet; Windows Vista.

The Windows Vista release is definitely getting close. There are lots of indications. The anticipation and energy is obvious as people focus on completing the final requirements. This is a significant event for the NAP team. We have been working very hard to make sure that everything is ready. We are powering through the tests. We are watching for any problem reports in real time. We are deploying it within our team and Microsoft IT is deploying it throughout the Redmond campus. So far everything is going great. While the testing continues, the problem reports have almost stopped and things are looking really good. We are ready ship the NAP client in Vista.

It has been very exciting getting to this point. As a program manager for NAP I have had the opportunity to present NAP many times and in many places. The level of interest for NAP that I see is invigorating. Organizations are anxious to find answers for protecting the health of their networks and the excitement towards NAP is high.

Of course we can’t say we are done at Vista RTM. There is another big milestone left to achieve. The first release of NAP is not complete until Longhorn Server is released. But we are already focusing on that. Between now and then we will continue to test, improve, and harden the product. We will work on completing our internal deployments and using the things we learn to help our customers simplify their deployment experience.

So stay tuned. Try NAP out with Vista and the Longhorn betas. Tell us what you think. Tell us what information would help you. In the end our goal is to provide you a solution that will give you confidence in the health and protection of your network, and NAP can definitely do that.

Kevin Rhodes

Program Manager

Enterprise Networking Group