Windows 11 Mdt

StartMenuSage

Has anyone tried setting up Windows 11 deployments with MDT yet?

I just got my hands on Windows 11 ISO and wanted to add it to my old MDT setup (used for Win 10 before). I thought it might be tricky, but it actually seemed to load up just fine! I did have to update the ADK and WinPE add-on, but once that was done, it recognized Windows 11 right away.

Are there any new steps I should know about when creating the deployment task sequences for Windows 11 compared to Windows 10? Also, do you guys customize the Start menu or taskbar layout through MDT, and if so, how do you do it now that the layouts are so different in Windows 11?

Super curious what tweaks or scripts people are using!

edgeexplorer

You’re right, MDT with the latest ADK works surprisingly well for Windows 11, but there are some quirks folks run into-especially with the stricter hardware checks (TPM 2.0, Secure Boot). If you’re deploying to mixed hardware, keep an eye on those requirements, or you may need to slip in a registry workaround for non-compliant test devices.

For customizing Start and taskbar, you can’t just use the old XML from Windows 10. Windows 11 needs a new layout XML format, and you’ll want to look at the Export-StartLayout cmdlet (from Win11) to generate a compatible file. Then, use a post-deployment PowerShell script in MDT to apply it, since Group Policy’s support is much weaker now.

Also, keep MDT and ADK updated-Microsoft’s tinkering with servicing and driver injection under the hood, so older versions can randomly break or miss new Win11 features. Curious if anyone’s found a truly foolproof way to deploy the widgets & chat removal at scale, though-if so, please share!