We are excited to announce that we are currently in the process of getting the beta of NetChk Protect 8.0 set up.  The first round of the beta will be a closed beta.  We have a couple hundred customers that we will be inviting to the beta, but we will only be able to accept a limited number of customers to begin with, so if you want a guaranteed spot, contact us as soon as possible at Shavlik-beta@vmware.com.   The customers on the invite list are those with a support issue resolved by 8.0, customers who submitted a feature request delivered in 8.0, customers who participated in previous betas, or customers who have already submitted a request to Shavlik-beta@vmware.com to participate in 8.0 beta.  Submit your request to join the beta as soon as possible to guarantee a spot in the first round of the beta.   Invites will be going out in the next couple of weeks to the customers I outlined above.

Some highlights of the new release include:

• ITScripts – we are integrating a powerful new scripting feature for common IT operations/management tasks.  The scripts can be run against target machines or a group of machines.  Examples of what type of scripts you will be able to play with in beta: LastBootTime, Port Scanning, Disable Apple  Updaters, Disable FireFox Updaters, Gather Console\Agent Logs for Support, Last 10 System Event Errors (this list is tentative and subject to change)
• Credentials Manager – new improved credentials management throughout the product
• Patch Scan performance enhancements
• New Operations Start Page
• Execute RDP (remote desktop) from Machine View against a target machine
• Power Status Scan (discover the power status of machines across your environment in minutes and generate a report required by Power Companies to submit for Power Rebates)
• Multiple Admin support in console
• Integrated Deployment into Ops Mon for better deployment progress monitoring
• Antivirus/Threat Protection is now registered in MS Security Center

There are many more feature enhancements, bug fixes, and other improvements in the release as well. Contact us to get on the beta by emailing Shavlik-beta@vmware.com.

Regards,
Chris Goettl