You know the old Boy Scout motto: be prepared. And when it comes to migrating your organization to a new operating system (in this case Windows 7), preparation is definitely the key to success.

That means investigating not only hardware compatibility, but also software compatibility: Will your apps run properly on the new OS?

To help answer that critical question, Microsoft's TechNet library offers five steps to Windows 7 application readiness. Here's an excerpt:

Step 1: Collect an application inventory

The first step is to take an application inventory to understand exactly where you stand--and believe us; at this point you've probably just realized the problem is bigger than you thought. But more importantly, you've just turned an 'unknown' into a 'known' and are in a better position to scope the testing and readiness program and understand the challenges ahead.

Fortunately there are a number of tools available that can help automate the process. Your client management software might have this capability built-in, or you can also use the Application Compatibility Toolkit, available for free download. If you already have another inventory mechanism like System Center Configuration Manager, Asset Inventory Service or other, you can use that as a starting point.

Other steps include analyzing your apps, assessing incompatibilities and mitigation options (such as creating shims for existing apps), and preparing for the OS deployment.

The guide is not only informative, but also chock full of links to helpful resources. Definitely worth reading, if not bookmarking!

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