Automation and Office 2007

I just received the latest issue of Windows IT Pro and in the issue got the news about Office 2007 I had expected. Office 2007, effectively, cannot be installed using Group Policy. I have been trying to deploy 2007 via group policy since it was released a few months ago. I could never get it to install properly but I always thought that it was a problem specific to my environment.

This is a huge let down because, here at Sagemont we do not use Ghost images, we deploy the OS via Remote Installation Services (RIS). Our standard practice is to RIS a machine, drop the machine into the correct Active Directory OU, and then Group Policy will install our standard applications to the desktop. Currently, in most cases, this application set is Office 2003, Windows Media Player 11, CA Antivirus, Adobe Reader, and etc. This is a great setup and almost every desktop computer on our network has been deployed in this manner.

In case you haven't dug into Office 2007 much, Microsoft has redesigned the setup process in Office 2007. In a Group Policy scenario, gone are the Microsoft Transform (MST) files and welcome XML files. If you do not use Group Policy to deploy applications, an MST is needed to supply installation options. Now it looks like Systems Management Server (SMS) is the only option for pushing 2007 to my users. I've resisted SMS since Group Policy has done a great job of installing my applications and I haven't had a great need for its advanced features. This might not be such a bad thing since Microsoft is integrating several of their management products together and I've already had some interest in using Operations Manager (MOM).

Update: Microsoft states in documentation on Technet that you can deploy 2007 via Group Policy but after months of testing I have not been able to deploy it to any workstation without some manual intervention.  What is worse is that all the Group Policy deployment does is places a cached copy of the installation on the user's hard drive for installation when the next user logs in.  So my end user will have to sit idle while the software installs, instead of having the software already installed, when they log in.

If you are a Windows IT Pro subsriber, the article I referenced is here

Comments

[Steven Dickenson]

You can certainly deploy Office 2007 via group policy, provided you're not using a retail copy.

Microsoft outlines the process here:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/8309f67f-8622-4317-b21d-1aa5f72e15bf1033.mspx?mfr=true

Neat blog, it's nice to see what other church IT guys are doing (and the fact that you're a paid, full time IT administrator for a church, is just, wow).

[Scott Reichling]

Unfortunately, although the Microsoft documentation says that you can, I have yet to deploy without some level of manual intervention. I have 4 copies of Office 2007 Professional Plus, all deployed through Group Policy, but none without me manually doing something. I received confirmation of my problems from an article in Windows IT Pro “Customizing and Deploying Office 2007” http://www.windowsitpro.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/95433/95433.html, when the author stated that Office 2007 cannot effectively be deployed through Group Policy.

[Jason Powell]

check out MS System Center Essentials 2007 ... imagine SMS and MOM plus other kewl stuff all rolled into one app aimed at us SMBs.

I haven't tested deploying O2k7 with SCE yet, but will shortly.