Hi there.I understand and have read that SteadyState is not available for Windows 7 yet. I just want to know if Microsoft is planning to release a version that will have Win7 support?Thanks.

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowssteadystate/thread/23f4b66a-623e-421b-9892-e9a798ba6de7 From the above thread, so far there is no official support for Win7. I hope Microsoft changes their mind on this but if not I will have to look into Faronics WINSelect, to lock down the user profiles. I do not use SS's disk protection, I use Faronics other product, Deep Freeze. Hope this helps, PhilipJealousy is not proof of love, nor proof of emotional immaturity

Hi,I would like to inform you that at present, Windows SteadyStatedoes NOT Support Windows 7, and there are no current plans to do so. We are now collecting specific feedback to try and make a case for possibly changing this decision.Sean Zhu - MSFT

YES PLEASE !!!

Add my vote for a win7 version of SteadyState!!!!!!!!!!! It has made my life much easier over the last 3 years.! Dan Will Technology Supervisor Meigs Co. District Public Library Pomeroy, Ohio

Hi,I work for the CNRNW (Commander Navy Region Northwest), no to far from MS HQ. We use SteadyState on our public access systems for MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). Since we installed it we noticed a 15% - 20% gain in network efficiency, due to the lack of spyware/adware beingretained on the systems. SteadyState is a VERY important part of our config, it'sONE of the ways we protectour sailorsduring online purchases, banking, etc... Not having SteadyState available would definately prevent us from upgrading anytime in the near future, atleast until we could find a suitable replacement. With budget cutting in the Navy, it's hard to justifiythe purchase of Windows 7 and then additional software to protect it. We have somewhere in the area of 500+ machines that we were planning on upgrading to 7.These computers are used to connect sailors with their familys and friends, or just blow off some steam. Not having steadystate will create issues.Thanks,-ChristopherIT Specialist, DoN MWR.

Hi,i'm the computer-man from an K12 school in belgium. So please for the sake of all shools arround the world. Running windows/microsoft is allready an large cost on our budget. Steady state was an great argumentin favor ofstill choosing for microsoft. However if steadysteate/shared toolkit is about to fase out, and not to be supported in future windows systems, our future computer systems won't be microsoft's perhaps. And with that not the computers of our children at home.So in time, it will payback for microsoft! And i think now, when the hype arround win7 is beginning, children are very eager to advertise there parrents at home about this new fancy os.So please, we have allready an agreement with the federal education department to achieve win7 a profittable prices. But what's the use when we can't realy deploy it safely.thanks C.Vermeiren

Hi, I work for the CNRNW (Commander Navy Region Northwest), no to far from MS HQ. We use SteadyState on our public access systems for MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). Since we installed it we noticed a 15% - 20% gain in network efficiency, due to the lack of spyware/adware beingretained on the systems. SteadyState is a VERY important part of our config, it'sONE of the ways we protectour sailorsduring online purchases, banking, etc... Not having SteadyState available would definately prevent us from upgrading anytime in the near future, atleast until we could find a suitable replacement. With budget cutting in the Navy, it's hard to justifiythe purchase of Windows 7 and then additional software to protect it. We have somewhere in the area of 500+ machines that we were planning on upgrading to 7. These computers are used to connect sailors with their familys and friends, or just blow off some steam. Not having steadystate will create issues. Thanks, -Christopher IT Specialist, DoN MWR. Maybe if they don't, you can bomb Redmond with a cruise missile and blame the glitch on your machines not having SS on them. HAHAHHAHAHHA!!!!!!!!!Jealousy is not proof of love, nor proof of emotional immaturity

Reading through some of the postings in this forum, I count thousands of computers running SteadyState that organizations want to upgrade to Windows 7. Count me in for another 25 now, with the potential for several hundred more. I have been trying for years to get my colleagues who manage the labs to look at SteadyState, and they were finally ready to do so because Windows 7 will break their current product. Without SteadyState, they may well abandon PCs for Macs and never look back.Please, please, Microsoft, reconsider this ill-considered diversion! Microsoft has done such a great job with its Windows 7 deployment tools: Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK), Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010, Windows Deployment Services. The only piece that's missing is SteadyState.

It's a great program to keep the system in the same state each reboot, restricting some users orwhile testing programs before deciding the merge to the disk. It's why Ihave to keep earlier OS so I can use Windows SteadyState. I can see other users of Windows SteadyState feeling the same and let's cross our fingers that MS will add support to Windows 7:)

I am an admin at UW Madison in the library system and we are now on hold for the Windows 7 rollout until this functionallity is available. We have over 400 machines in our department alone that are stuck on XP. I am sure many other departments on our campus and otherhigher education institutions find this as unacceptable as we do. All our excitement for a viable upgrade to XP is squashed. Shame on Microsoft for being so short-sighted.

Please, for the love of God, release an updated SteadyState that will work with Windows 7! The features allowing it to work via policies was great, but it would also be great if you could make a central management console, but more over than that, a Windows 7 version! How can Microsoft release a new Windows, and not be compatible with their own company?! The 'guest mode' built into Windows 7 is neat and all, but is not an option once joined to an active directory domain environment, and therefore a product like SteadyState will be needed. It was awesome that Microsoft provided one, but now, it's just getting dropped. That's very poor. Please update it! Thank you!

Please add my request for SteadyState support for Windows 7. I work in a community college and it has virtually eliminated computer software problems. It is a very valuable tool and would probably hold back an upgrade to Windows 7. Please reconsider this decision.

I am also in favor of SteadyState for Windows 7 64-bit. We just upgraded our library computers to Windows 7 but now have to look at alternative solutions. If I would have known this before, I would have told the library to use Windows XP.

As and admin of a library system we need a Windows 7 Steady State solution. We have over 1000 computers using this and at some point we will need to go to Win 7. Why would Microsoft not continue the support of Steady State in Windows 7? You mentioned that you are "collecting specific feedback" and "make a case for possibly changing this decision" I've got a few questions about that extremely vague statement. Who made this decision and how can I get in contact with them? What specific feedback do you want from the community? How was this decision made? Microsoft basically took over (and did a good job) of offering a free way to lock down their OS. This began with the "Gates Computer Toolkit" then moved into "Shared Computer tool kit version 1 and 1.1" and now finally Steady State (with version 2.0, 2.5 beta, and the final version). From my perspective I thought MS had their stuff together. Yeah the name changed but it was a good free product. It had a history so I thought it would be safe. Hey you even released a version that works on Vista. Why wouldn't you do the same for Win 7? Is it that different? Here is what Microsoft is saying: Forget all that work we put into locking down our own product. We quit and wish you good luck locking down our new OS. By the way, you must upgrade to Windows 7 in 18 months or when the first service pack comes out. After that we won't sell you Windows XP downgrade licenses anymore. Please give us more than that. We all deserve a real explanation not a vague few sentences that don't tell us anything. We've been using your product for 7 years and to pull the plug now is just....just like something Microsoft would do.... -Seriously? Really? For Real?

Another public library here in favor of SS for Windows 7. Really it's the only way to easily lock down Windows enough to make it safe to allow the public to use your equipment. It's not perfect but it's close enough and the price makes it easy on the budget. Without this I will have to look at Linux and mac as contenders when it's time to upgrade.

I would like to buy Windows 7 for all the facutly and student machines on campus at some point, but it make it very difficult to move to a new version of Window, becasue SteadyState is used very heavy here. We planned on deploying 3,500 or more workstations with windows 7 but we will have to hold off on that due to SteadyState not being ready for support Windows 7. Microsoft will loose a lot of money due to SteadyState not being ready. Please help to convince the powers that be to update to a new version that is compatable with Windows 7. We are expanding our schools in the next 2 years that could have over 5000 workstaions. We are a K12 enviroment and use this product all the time. Count my vote in for this.

As and admin of a library system we need a Windows 7 Steady State solution. We have over 1000 computers using this and at some point we will need to go to Win 7. Why would Microsoft not continue the support of Steady State in Windows 7? You mentioned that you are "collecting specific feedback" and "make a case for possibly changing this decision" I've got a few questions about that extremely vague statement. Who made this decision and how can I get in contact with them? What specific feedback do you want from the community? How was this decision made? Microsoft basically took over (and did a good job) of offering a free way to lock down their OS. This began with the "Gates Computer Toolkit" then moved into "Shared Computer tool kit version 1 and 1.1" and now finally Steady State (with version 2.0, 2.5 beta, and the final version). From my perspective I thought MS had their stuff together. Yeah the name changed but it was a good free product. It had a history so I thought it would be safe. Hey you even released a version that works on Vista. Why wouldn't you do the same for Win 7? Is it that different? Here is what Microsoft is saying: Forget all that work we put into locking down our own product. We quit and wish you good luck locking down our new OS. By the way, you must upgrade to Windows 7 in 18 months or when the first service pack comes out. After that we won't sell you Windows XP downgrade licenses anymore. Please give us more than that. We all deserve a real explanation not a vague few sentences that don't tell us anything. We've been using your product for 7 years and to pull the plug now is just....just like something Microsoft would do.... -Seriously? Really? For Real? Well said. If MS doesn't support Windows 7 with SS, I am keeping my eye on Google's ChromeOS. Depending on how they code it, it looks like it may be an alternative for public access machines for a library. You won't have to worry about securing it, and patrons can save data either in the cloud or on a USB stick. Sounds good to me, but again, it depends on how the OS looks when it's finished. Guess we'll have to wait til 2010. And, of course I may be missing something. ;)Jealousy is not proof of love, nor proof of emotional immaturity

Wow, that's too bad. Last year I setup a computer labwith 20 desktopsfor an after school program, and now we have to remain on XP.

Hi Sean,Please consider this feedback in regard to SteadyState and Windows 7.We need you folks at Microsoft to develop Steady State so that it works with Windows 7.Use of SteadyState at our library has greatly improved our management of a large number of machines that we make available to the public.Products that we used before SteadyState did not function nearly as well.For many of our users, their experience with library PCs is their first encounter with Microsoft OS and application software. We want to make the move to Win 7, but are reluctant to do so if we cannot provide the security needed in our public setting.Thank you for seeking feedback from users and please push for upgrading SteadyState so that it is compatible with and supports Windows 7.

Sean, We are currently running dual boot system with XP and Vista at our training centre for senior people and using SS. The plan is to go to a triple boot system with XP, Vista en Windows 7 and eventually back to a dual boot system with XP and Windows 7, dropping Vista. But if MS remains at their position of not developing a SS version for Windows 7, we will be forced to stay on XP andVista. And thereby not being able to show our students the benefits of W7. The good news, or bad news, is that will make our decision easier to start giving classes in the Chrome OS as we can forget the W7 migration and therefore saving time. And money as we dont need to buy the W7 OS.

Add my vote for SS support in Windows 7, in our local authority we have a vast number of PCs within Public access. SS has been well received and is easy to use and configure. We are looking at SS for use with netbooks for our schools. It will be a real pity if it is not available through Windows 7.

add our 18 public libraries to the ones that WILL NOT upgrade to Win 7 without Steady State being available to use with it! Please reconsider!

IMHO, this is a V-E-R-Y bad decision on Microsoft's part...SS is a vital tool in providing safe, secureworkstations for public access. If SS is not announced for Windows 7 soon, our plans to upgrade to Windows 7 will cease, along with other MS upgrades being planned. Is Microsoft that big that they don't care about lost revenue?Wake UP! Why would you even CONSIDER dropping support for this tool?

No plans to support Windows 7 in SteadyState development? What a really serious mistake. We will not only have to delay Windows 7 deployment on public PCs, we will have to reconsider deploying Windows 7 at all.

Our company works in the healthcare industry. We have a need to have stable PCs in a shared environment that also meets HIPAA compliance. SteadyState for Windows 7 would be greatly appreciated for use in the hundreds of different sites that we are in.

Hi there.I understand and have read that SteadyState is not available for Windows 7 yet. I just want to know if Microsoft is planning to release a version that will have Win7 support?Thanks. maybe this can help a bit : http://cantwait-win7.blogspot.com/ :)

I have to say that I am VERY disappointed by Microsoft's lack of support for SteadyState on Windows 7 I manage the network at our small public library, we don't have the money to be open on Mondays let alone pay for some 3rd party software (Deep Freeze); I can tell you this right now I will not buy any more Windows 7 licenses (or any other Microsoft products for that matter) unless you decide to upgrade SteadyState to support Windows 7. I cannot believe that you would be pushing us to upgrade and remove the only equivalent management feature from the RTM build (PC Safeguard), I realize that most of the settings can be managed using group policy, however, I also have to keep the system fairly simple so other "non-techie" staff members can get the access they need. I was about to deploy Windows 7 on all of our PAC's, looks like I'll save a ton of money and just deploy Ubuntu. Epic fail, Microsoft.

We were considering using steady state to build public terminals for our library. Presently we're using DeepFreeze with Windows XP and would like to move to Windows 7.

Please add my vote for SteadyState for Windows 7 for 3 more PC at home an 20 at the job.Steady State have feautures not available in Family Safety and vice versa.Regards.Christian

Sean, Please reconsider and support SteadyState for Win 7. I manage our public internet networks at 5 libraries for our regional council. SteadyState has been of great benefit in keeping the computers clean and easy to manage. If we cannot update to Windows 7 I may just look at a complete open source solution. More loss of revenue for Microsoft as we have an SLPA agreement presently.

another vote for windows 7 steady state... with one of our customers, it is a "must have" - and they are very upset that this is not available any longer. I hate to leave them on an older OS ...... Is there another mechanism to get the required feedback to the mother ship?

I would like to see SteadyState supported in Windows 7.

I would also like to see SteadyState for Windows 7. I am a system admin in a K12 school and had plans on using it until I found out it will not be released for Windows 7. I have been using manditory roaming profiles so far, but have found them much harder to create and maintain in Windows 7 as compared to XP and Vista. That lead me to research SteadyState just to find another dead end.

I work in a rural library in the midwest and I am the only tech person on staff. I have to configure over 100 computers at 5 different locations and many times the staff are not as computer savy as I would like them to be. This also applies to some of our patrons. I have used the profile tool from the inception of the "Gates security tool", "Shared computer tool kit", and now "Steady State". It is a wonderful tool to use. The download and installation of the software is easy. Once you download and read the manual it it's full steam ahead. You can set your profile and once you have all of your windows updates, and other application updates you can set the windows disk protection and lock down the computer. You can also export the profile to other computers which is really is helpful. When you are in an environment where public access computers are used 12 hours a day you really need a tool that makes administration of the computers easy for the staff on duty. Many libraries do not have the budget to hire full time tech's to administer their computer problems and have to rely on staff that have other duties. This allows the computers to work properly and not have any down time where patrons are not able to use the computers. We have lots of our patrons coming in to use the computers for resumes, job applications, online banking, online classes, database searching, homework, and just e-mail and we really can not afford to have any down time. If they do not plan to extend "Steady State" to be available to Windows 7, the new computers that we plan to purchase using a grant that we received from the Gates Foundation will have to use the Vista OS as we really need a tool that is easy to configure and is user friendly. libtech

Microsoft doesn't care about Steady State because they know that most places that use it are not for profit and we all know microsoft needs its money. Bottom line is that most of us would get our license from Tech Soup or a similar non-profit or education site that gives steep discounts. So there may be 100k computers that are going to go from XP to 7, most of which are going to be non-profit and pay maybe $10 a license. So doing the math you see that it is only maybe a million dollars of potential revenue for them, considering that they have Revenue upwards of $60 billion a year it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why they havent paid programmers millions of dollars to write Steady State for 7. Yea we are customers but we represent .000001% of their revenue (guesstimate) they dont care about us....-Senior IT Admin in Library Consortium of over 50 libraries.

Hello Pinky U can go to [ www.returnilvirtualsystem.com ] down load the free version , get used to it , it will do just fine for your school PCs . My best regards

Truly disappointing. I'm not an IT admin or anything like that but I have to manage 5 computers at home and I've been using SteadyState to lock down the kids' machines. I've tried other 3rd-party alternatives such as Returnil (buggy as ____) or Shadow Defender (this one is great but getting it to work with Windows Updates is a hassle) but none of them replaces Windows Steadystate. C'mon Microsoft, don't screw this up just after releasing a wonderful OS like Windows 7.

I have close to 400 systems that I have to support in a University environment. Steady State has made my job a heck of a lot easier. Vista and Windows 7 may offer security enhancements but they lack the ability to return all settings and files to the previous configuration with a simple reboot. I hope that the bean counters at Microsoft realize that continuing development for valuable add-on's like Steady State may help to promote migration to newer operating systems such as Windows 7. After all, isn't it all about maintaining system stability and availability? I really think that this valuable tool that many have come to depend on should not be abandoned.

Bueno, mi experiencia es un un ciber cafe, y me ha sido de gran utilidad, ahora que hice un upgrade a 7, de una de las maquinas principales, estoy pensando en que será lo mejor por hacer, pues estaba convencido de que podria utilizar el steady state sin problema con el solucionador de problemas de compatibilidad, mentira. ahora creo una de las mejores opciones es retornar a vista, mientras windows saca una versión que involucre a windows 7,. MICROSOFT, por favor publique un steady state compatible con 7. -please-

I would also like to see SteadyState continued in its support, not just for Windows 7 but for 64-bit Windows as well. I manage 400 stations in a public library system, and like others here I have used this product since the original Gates grant came out. I wouldn't think of deploying a public workstation without it. With the current budgetary situation the way it is, trying to convince our administration to spend more money on other software to do the same thing is a waste of time. Please keep SteadyState going, and make it work with Windows 7 and 64-bit Windows.

@Whoever from Microsoft that made this decision: Take into account that if you don't support SteadyState anymore because of money, some libraries and part of the public administration are willing to change to Linux and once the average user that uses those PCs gets used to Linux, you'll face bigger long term problems in the home consumer market, because at the end of the day, Linux is free. Keep in mind that it's no longer the late nineties, when every Linux out there required IT admin level knowledge to install. Nowadays, a power user like myself can easily set up an usable computer with Ubuntu in 20 min.

Yes, this is very disappointing that MS isn't working on Win7 and 64-bit support for Windows SteadState. It's such an excellent tool, and it makes absolutely no sense for them to abandon it now that they've released an OS that is far superior to the older OS's that ARE supported by SteadState. What are they smoking???

I will not purchase anything with Windows 7 or upgrade anything that my company owns until SteadyState supports Windows 7. What is the point.

Hi,how much positive feedback do you need to make WSS and/or especially WDP compatible with Windows 7?I'm an admin in one school with up to 300 PC's and use WDP to lockdown all of them (vista and xp). Windows 7 can I only present with a vmware player as a virtual machine, but not all of our comps are good enough for 2 OS's at a time.Thanks.Can't get it out of my head...

We have a number of hotels, pubs, nightclubs and internet cafes. I was about to place an order for a new internet cafe, I'll hold off until I see what SS and Win7 does. Running Linux with XP in VMs may have to be the answer.

Sean, count me in as another supporter of Steady State. In my former workplace we were staunch advocates since the Micrsoft Shared Toolkit days. In my new position, we are in dire need of having a disk protection solution and there is no point in me advocating using Steady State since it will block us from upgrading to Windows 7. Microsoft has abandoned enough in the academic toolkit (Class Server, Student, and Encarta). Don't let Steady State hit the chopping block.

Hi, I would like to inform you that at present, Windows SteadyState does NOT Support Windows 7, and there are no current plans to do so. We are now collecting specific feedback to try and make a case for possibly changing this decision. Sean Zhu - MSFT The company i work for has a client with about 160-200 pc'swe work with them to use the steady state tool to help limit what users can do with the pc's as they are used as point of sale systems.we are not able to force the customer to buy specific versions of windows and they are not in a single location with a windows domain.so given the customer requirements we must have a tool like steady state to limit what the pc's can do. if Microsoft will not support such a tool and if the cost of a third party tool is to great for the customer then we may be forced to look at options like a custom install of Linux or some other OS in the future.Not all customers can run a domain, not all customers want to buy windows embeded, and the windows POS package is not sutable for this customers specific needs.so this tool is a "Must Have"

I would like to suggest that support for SteadyState be implemented in Windows 7. I work at a library, like many other posting, and we could use it for our public computers as well as our catalog computers. Currently we have a third party solution, but with budget cuts, something from MS that is free and functional would be a better choice.We currently have 36 public computers and 28 card catalog computers. We probably would install this on staff computers (45) also. I looked at the documentation on this program and it will do what we NEED it to do.Jim CarpenterFarmington Public LibraryFarmington, NM

We have been building Windows-based systems for music making applications and music store demonstration applications for 7 years. Steady State became a great feature and selling point. It's a great differentiator. It's a great tool for many small installations. But due to the lack of Steady state, and other problems related to Windows for entry level music making - we will be getting out of the PC hardware business. I do this regretfully, since we have installed hundreds of systems around Windows, and I am LOVING windows 7 for my business otherwise. If the object of a business is to get and keep customers, Microsoft is failing on the latter, and making it harder on the former.

I would like to add my support for encouraging Microsoft to change their plans. I am the IT teacher at a K-12 school with 150 computers. As well as teaching 35 periods a week, I also have to install and maintain all of the computers in my (spare) time. Since installing Windows SteadyState my time spent fixing problems with viruses, deleted files, computers that won't start up, etc. has dropped to nearly nothing. Windows SteadyState is the most time-saving IT tool that I have ever used!! Please reconsider your decision. I will not be moving from XP to Windows 7 unless I have Windows SteadyState or a third party alternative.

Here's another "____ Yes" for Windows 7 Steady State.

I would also like to add my YES for continued support of SteadyState for Windows 7. BTW, someone suggested on another forum* that SteadyState could be run in compatibility mode under Windows 7. Would Microsoft endorse this as an official workaround? * http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/e274a5a6-80c6-46fa-93a6-50a1cd67c013

Another +1 here for W7 SteadyState support. It would greatly reduce the amount of support calls an admin gets. I'm dreading going back to XP for our public computers - but i might have to.

I too would like to throw my hat in the ring for support of Windows 7.I work for Spokane Public Library system and currently rely on SteadyState as part of our security solution. Without support for Windows 7, that will delay our deployment to Windows 7 on our computers and it may mean spending large amounts of money to accomplish what SteadyState already offers. This means we will likely hang on to XP until its dying last gasp, so please help lots of folks like us move into the 21st century!IT Specialist

Yes, is my vote for continued support of SteadyState for Windows7. I work at an university and want to deploy Windows7 for all students machines with WDS. If SS does not support Windows7 then we should look at an another deploy software. Or stay at XP :-( --------------------- IT-specialist

I am the IT Manager for the library system in Lancaster County, SC. Before we implmented SteadyState in XP, there were constant problems with the public access computers regardless of the software used to inhibit tampering. Without SS for Windows 7, our TCO for the public PCs will ruin our IT budget as new PCs are deployed. Please develop a version of SS for Windows 7.

I would like to add my voice to the many who are imploring you to make SS compatible with Win7. I am the technology coordinator for a public library system and this is the last piece that is keeping us from migrating to Win 7. The decision to not support it has raised enough hackles in my library that we are considering a Linux or Mac solution, which I would really not want to do. MS, please reconsider this decision!

unlike Home and Ultimate which are being phased out in 2012 per Microsofts "Lifecycle policy" Vista Business ( and Enterprise too ) is supported until at least 2017 by Microsoft. Windows Home Systems : 5 years minimum. Windows Professional Systems : 10 years minimum Add 2 years more for each edition if a SP3 for Vista comes out. XPs deadline is 2014, both Home and Pro. Newer apps like coming IE9 and Messenger/Live apps 2010 wont even run on it, support is beginning to vanish for this, so it is no real option anymore. ( and this extremely long support is only because of Vistas rtm delay and the netbook desaster, otherwise xp would be already a long time dead) So for all depending on SS : purchase Vista Business , deploy with SP2 and your good for the next 7 years - that's a long time perspective to evaluate Linux or Mac solutions. The main thing that there is no Win7 SS, I think is the lack of 64bit support. Applications that have the "Windows 7 Logo" must be both 32 and 64 bit ready per MS logo rules. Win7 32bit may not differ that much from Vista, but they can't give it the Win7 logo if there is no 64bit support. MS would so to say break their own rules if they did.. For the 32bit/3GB limit just a flashy thought comes to mind : Windows Server 2008 ( same OS-code as Vista ) in 32bit does support tons of GB Ram , same goes for Server 2003 ( XP-Codebase ) .. just a bit expensive, but there are cheap OEM editions around. Those that have technet and msdn could even use it for free. Someone has to find out if SS runs on these. I would say there is a high possibility it would. 99 % of Vista drivers and apps run on Server 08 without any differences. ( It's even a ____ faster than the Desktop counterpart , even with Aero and fancy stuff enabled , but that's another story.. )

Being IT Manager for a not-for-profit adult education college with 100+ PC's we depended on SteadyState entirely - When i tested the W7 beta with safeguard, it then seemed a good choice to buy and upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise. Now I wish I hadn't.

comodo has a product but doesnt support some hdd structures

We really need steady state for windows 7! I purchased two new windows 7 computers for the public library, not realizing that steady state would not work on them. I did not even put them out in the public section, The office staff now have new computers instead of the library patrons. I have purchased new computers in the past and have put the steady state and (knock on wood) I have had no major problems. The steady state works so good for us. We are very limited on funds and are unable to purchase software each year to lock down the computers. Carol Kaspar Library Director Newkirk Public Library Newkirk OK

I work for the University of Wisconsin Madison. We have a bunch of general use computer labs with somewhere around 1000 PCs that are still currently still using XP. We'd love to offer and introduce our students to windows 7 but haven't yet started rolling that out. One of the major things that's keeping me from starting to look at that more is lack of steady state support. Sean Griffin

If not SteadyState then what? MS must have some other plans for addressing this issue? Some sort of VM solution? I think SteadyState is a valuable app and should be supported. Seems people feel a little like the rug has been pulled out from beneath their feet

+1 for Win7 version of steady state.. Managing 100's of public computers and NO Steady State? I'll have to stay with XP a lot longer than originally planned......

I am with you and we have a least 1000 student computers in our district.Ryan Fischer

Yes, SteadyState support for Windows 7 is a must for our library's public PCs (about 100).

@A57, that product doesn't meet the same criteria Steady State did, first and foremost, the licensing with Steady State was far more advantageous to commercial users. @MS: I with everyone else, Steady State would be nice, or maybe see the revitalization of "Guest Mode" with Windows 7 SP1?

I too would like to voice concern about this. My school also uses Steady State for 200+ Windows XP clients, as we are a non domain based network environment. The ability to do what you could, lock down clients etc is absolutely crticial and essential to managing a network . I would like to see Windows 7 support for Steady State. I would also hate to revert to a non Microsoft technology to manage Windoes 7 as we don't have group policy, but I am unable to prevent the update cycle too. If push comes to shove purchasing a third party app (Desktop Authority etc)may be inevitable whilst undesirable. Please bring back WSS for Win 7! I hope a favourable decision can be made. To understand Microsoft's position (I trust there are solid reason behind their decisions) any background information about why no support for Windows 7 would be very much appreciated. Thanks for a great product up to now.

Please record another vote for a win7 version of SteadyState! As the Business Computing Lab Coordinator for a business college with 2700+ students within a university of 20,000+ students, the responsibility of managing and administering 200+ computers in non-domain and domain environments has been made easier since the introduction and use of WDP/WSS. It is saddening to hear that it is no longer being supported with use of Windows 7. Although, sometimes a decision to discontinue one product could be the decision to create another product with an improved feature set. Is there a possibily of another Microsoft product that would do the same, but differently? For this reason and to this end, could KACE be the product and direction Microsoft is looking move its Not-for-Profit/Higher Ed/K12 customer base towards? ***************************************** Sheldon Demby Lab Coordinator University of Delaware Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics srdemby "at" udel "dot" edu

One more vote for having SS or something like it for Win 7. I am an IT for a library system that has 300+ computers and they want to move everyone to Win 7 but I had to recommend that they stay with XP because of the lack of a SS solution that was built in. Budgets are tight and adding 3rd party soltutions for something that I always felt should should be built in, especially in the business versions, makes the management costs too high. I loved SS and you should bring it back for the latest and greatest? OS.

As responsible for the installation of about 4000 computers in the primary schools of the Brussels Region (Belgium) I'm considering to leave Windows 7 based computers as they would be much harder to manage by the primary school teachers without this tool. Drk

I have 400 plus computers in Public acces areas that I current administer, all running WINXp SP3 and Steady State 2.5; if Microsoft can't see clear to provide a WINDOWS 7 update for Steady State, then I can't really see why I should move to Windows 7...

Bring back SteadyState!

I too would like to voice concern about this. My school also uses Steady State for 200+ Windows XP clients, as we are a non domain based network environment. The ability to do what you could, lock down clients etc is absolutely crticial and essential to managing a network . I would like to see Windows 7 support for Steady State. I would also hate to revert to a non Microsoft technology to manage Windoes 7 as we don't have group policy, but I am unable to prevent the update cycle too. If push comes to shove purchasing a third party app (Desktop Authority etc)may be inevitable whilst undesirable. Please bring back WSS for Win 7! I hope a favourable decision can be made. To understand Microsoft's position (I trust there are solid reason behind their decisions) any background information about why no support for Windows 7 would be very much appreciated. Thanks for a great product up to now. one reason i can think of is they don't care abou us "small people". worse still i hope they are not trying to help the "big people" to sell support and services.

One more vote for SteadyState on Windows 7! In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to make my purchases by Apr '11 or when Win7 SP1 comes out, whichever is earlier and before the XP downgrade rights run out. I never thought I'd say this, but after downgrade rights cease, I'm freezing my IT budget and will plan for a migration to Mac OS. At least they've got something usable supported on the OS level. We rely on Adobe products heavily, so FOSS is not an option.

+1 for Steady State on Win 7 - hopefully enough?

Hi, I would like to inform you that at present, Windows SteadyState does NOT Support Windows 7, and there are no current plans to do so. We are now collecting specific feedback to try and make a case for possibly changing this decision. Sean Zhu - MSFT Well, what this decision does is keep us using Windows XP on our machines. I am the Tech Guy at a High School, and we use SteadyState in various locations. So basically, we won't upgrade to Windows 7 until we absolutely have to, and/or we will have to pay for DeepFreeze again. Not a good business decision if Microsoft would like to move Windows 7 forward into Libraries, Public Schools, etc. Sincerely, Dan

Hi, I'm the IT administrator for an IT Academy in Mpumalanga, South Africa. We are currently upgrading to Windows 7 Pro, as we have replaced XP with Win7 in our curriculum. Our IT infrastructure is not the best and as such we try to limit the work our server has to do (i.e. Active Directory, roaming profiles and such) in order to free up recourses for our learner management system. Before, the staff had to reload machines every six months, students would lose work and assignments, trainers couldn’t give class. We introduced student group policies on the domain, then roaming profiles (in an attempt to protect our students data,) and it all worked well until it was deployed across the campus, 220 PC's connecting to a server that bearly counts as a workstation is not a pretty site, needless to say our sever fell over... with a loud bang. Then we discovered Steady State and we haven’t had a problem since. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, give us Steady State for Win7. Or, I could go open-source and spend the cash, I would have spent on MS Products, on a nice shiny new server. You choose, Microsoft.

Folks you can use Guest Mode in Windows 7 as a replacement to SteadyState.,

if they had not removed it from the final version.

Agreed! We are a MS Gold partner, reseller, and SPLA hoster, this is a CRITICAL product to many, many areas that Microsoft is abandoning. This is not a technically difficult function to implement (I've see 'guest mode' in pre release W7, it was almost there). GET IT DONE AND RELEASE IT! We can promise at least 1200 more W7 sales immediately with access to this, otherwise, clients are staying on XP/Vista or replacing workstations with (gasp) Macs.

Is anyone here who found a easy and free replacement for the windows disk protection in steady state for Windows 7 that doesn't include using virtual harddrives? If not, I will code something that does the job since there are many people who want this. I guess I will then make it free for private and educational / not commercial use but want maybe 5 € or 6$ per PC from other businesses. I really don't understand why they didn't include the Guest Mode /Steady State into windows 7 since they had the product nearly finished and it was just optional! @ Microsoft: If you don't want to continue Steady State, just release it's source code as open source and I am sure there are enought people who will continue the development! Thanks.

Try SmartShield from Centurion Technologies. Works with XP, Vista and Win7. Does the same thing as SteadyState but more, it even has remote management. It is not free. Check out www.centuriontech.com

Hello everybody, Please read this: Creating a Steady State by Using Microsoft Technologies (Version: September 2010 | Date Published:10/12/2010) In the Overview section of this document we can read following: “Windows SteadyState does not support Windows 7; however, many of its features can be replicated by using native Windows 7 features and free tools from Microsoft.” Best regards, Robert

Hello. I work in a company that use more that 5000 PC in production floors all over the world. I think 5000 + licenses only from one company for windows 7 is a good argument for steady state upgrade for windows 7. I am shure that a lot of IT Pros, and not only wait for this software in order to implement secure laptops or PC's with steady state. I think that it is a major step back from Microsoft, not to develop this software for windows 7. No Group Policy or other means Microsoft provided are a match with steady state. Please reconsider this decision as other operating systems are availeble on the market. Please excuse my english. Thanks.