Note
The information in this topic applies only to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1.

Use the following sections to review information about significant changes in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 since System Center 2012 Configuration Manager:

One of the most significant changes is support for Windows 8 for Configuration Manager clients. Configuration Manager SP1 supports Windows 8 in the following ways:

Other significant changes include the following:

For more information about the supported operating system versions and editions that Configuration Manager SP1 supports, see Supported Configurations for Configuration Manager.

You can read more detailed information about these changes in the following sections.

Setup and Site Installation

The following sections contain information about setup and site installation changes in Configuration Manager SP1.

Site Installation

Upgrade Support

Windows PowerShell

Sites and Hierarchies

The following sections contain information about site and hierarchy changes in Configuration Manager SP1.

Note
The Active Directory schema extensions for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 are unchanged from those used by System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. If you extended the schema for Configuration Manager 2007 or for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, you do not have to extend the schema again for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1.

Site to Site Communication

Backup and Recovery

Site System Roles

Migration

The following items are new for migration in Configuration Manager SP1:

  • Beginning with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, you can merge data from other hierarchies that run the same version of Configuration Manager as your hierarchy. This includes migrating data from a test environment into your production environment.

  • Some UI labels and descriptions are updated to reflect the change in functionality that lets you migrate data between two System Center 2012 Configuration Manager hierarchies.

For more information about migration, see the Introduction to Migration in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager topic in the Migrating Hierarchies in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.

Client Deployment and Operations

The following sections contain information about client deployment and client operations changes in Configuration Manager SP1.

Client Deployment

Mobile Devices

Client Management

Collections

Compliance Settings

Endpoint Protection

Asset Intelligence

Software Deployment and Content Management

The following sections contain information about changes for software updates, software distribution, operating system deployment and task sequences in Configuration Manager SP1.

Software Updates

Application Management

Operating System Deployment

Content Management

Monitoring and Reporting

The following sections contain information about monitoring and reporting changes in Configuration Manager SP1.

Reporting

Alerts

See Also