Making deployment of Windows Vista hassle-free is a big priority for Microsoft — and one of the ways the Softies believe they'll be able to make good on their claim that Vista will be the most rapidly adopted version of Windows ever.

Company officials have been talking up forthcoming Vista tools like the Application Compatibility Toolkit, Business Desktop Deployment Solution Accelerator, Virtual PC 2007, Windows Deployment Services and other enterprise-focused Vista-deployment aids.

But there are even more migration tools in the wings, including one more consumer- and small-business-focused one about which Microsoft officials have said next-to-nothing.

That tool, the Windows Easy Transfer Companion, will transfer actual applications from Windows XP PCs to Vista PCs using a cable or a network connection.

ZDnet