As usual Rob has a better Internet connection than me and was able to get some of the details on the new Windows PE Beta. It looks like there have been some major changes since the last release and they are making PE much more customizable.

This documentation is preliminary and subject to change.

New Features in Windows PEWindows® PE 3.0 contains several new features.

  • Windows PE Lifetime serviceability: Images can be serviced throughout their lifetimes.
  • /prep: The PEImg.exe tool is deprecated in this release. As a result the /prep command-line option is no longer supported.
  • Optimize Windows PE image: Use the new /apply-profiles switch to reduce the contents of a Windows PE image to only those files necessary to support a given set of applications.
  • System drive letter: You can assign any letter to the system drive.
  • DISM.exe: Use this new command-line tool to customize a Windows PE image offline. Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) enables you to add and remove drivers, Windows PE components, and language packs. For more information, see Deployment Image Servicing and Management Command-Line Options.

All of these changes are really good and I hope they make it in to the final release of the Windows 7 PE WAIK.  Hopefully today my Internet cooperates and I am able to check out the beta.