Microsoft just made generally available the Physical to Virtual (P2V) Migration for Software Assurance Tool, after releasing Beta 2 at the end of September this year.
The P2V migration for Software Assurance tool leverages the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit(MDT) and Sysinternals Disk2VHD to convert a user’s existing Windows XP SP3, Vista or 7 environment to a virtual hard disk. The tool can also be used from System Center Configuration Manager, when MDT is integrated to provide a Zero Touch Installation (ZTI) solution for P2V migration.
Corporations who want to use this tool, should have Software Assurance licensing in order to legally use the tool.
"…Although P2V Migration can help in targeted cases, by design, it is not scalable to large percentages of users in an organization. Best practice is to ensure native compatibility with applications, websites, and hardware devices for Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization scales to deliver and manage more compact and standardized Windows XP VMs to more users requiring a managed set of Windows XP-dependent applications. P2V Migration is recommended in cases where users require specific components from their current PC and those components cannot run in Windows 7 and do not warrant being part of a standardized and managed VM environment for broad use. Licensing for P2V Migration requires that the converted Windows XP desktop and Windows 7 environment be installed using Microsoft Volume Licensing media and covered by Microsoft Software Assurance.…"