Operating system migration while preserving applications, data, and settings

1. A method for efficient management of operating systems and applications on computing devices, said method comprising:

receiving a request to migrate a computing device on a network from a legacy operating system to a new operating system, the network comprising a plurality of computing devices centrally managed by a central server, the central server comprising a preexisting library including a plurality of base layers and application layers, wherein different base layers in the preexisting library correspond to different operating systems;

creating a staging area on the computing device;

retrieving from the preexisting library a base layer corresponding to the requested new operating system, the base layer comprising an image that contains complete content of the new operating system such that merging the base layer onto the computing device installs the new operating system on the computing device;

storing the base layer in the staging area;

identifying what applications are present on the computing device and selecting from the preexisting library application layers corresponding to the identified applications;

receiving the selected application layers from the preexisting library on the central server, wherein each of the selected application layers comprises complete content of a corresponding application such that merging the selected application layer onto the computing device installs the corresponding application on the computing device;

storing the received selected application layers in the staging area; and

merging the base layer and the received selected application layers onto the computing device to migrate the computing device from the legacy operating system to the new operating system with the corresponding applications installed on the new operating system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

capturing user data and user settings from the computing device on the legacy operating system; and

migrating the captured user data and user settings to the computing device through a predefined protocol, the protocol including a mapping of user data locations and user setting locations from the legacy operating system to the new operating system.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a particular application on the computing device prior to the migration;

identifying a new version of the particular application, the new version being compatible with the new operating system;

wherein at least one of the selected application layers is an application layer for the new version of the particular application.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

an application version database containing information identifying, with respect to at least one application, a new version of the at least one application, the new version being compatible with the new operating system;

wherein the new version of the particular application is identified based on the database.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying additional applications based on a rule engine and selecting from the preexisting library application layers corresponding to the additional applications, the rule engine defining which applications are to be installed on a particular computing device based on at least one of:

characteristics of the particular computing device; or

characteristics of a user of the particular computing device;

receiving the selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications from the preexisting library on the central server;

storing the received selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications in the staging area; and

merging the selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications onto the computing device during the migration of the computing device from the legacy operating system to the new operating system.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transferring an application from the legacy operating system to the new operating system by transferring the application's files and the application's registry entries from the legacy operating system to the new operating system based on a predetermined mapping of the application's file locations and the application's registry entries between the legacy operating system and the new operating system.

7. A computing device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:

receive a request to migrate a computing device on a network from a legacy operating system to a new operating system, the network comprising a plurality of computing devices centrally managed by a central server, the central server comprising a preexisting library including a plurality of base layers and application layers, wherein different base layers in the preexisting library correspond to different operating systems;

create a staging area on the computing device;

retrieve from the preexisting library a base layer corresponding to the requested new operating system, the base layer comprising an image that contains complete content of the new operating system such that merging the base layer onto the computing device installs the new operating system on the computing device;

store the base layer in the staging area;

identify what applications are present on the computing device and select from the preexisting library application layers corresponding to the identified applications;

receive the selected application layers from the preexisting library on the central server, wherein each of the selected application layers comprises complete content of a corresponding application such that merging the selected application layer onto the computing device installs the corresponding application on the computing device;

store the received selected application layers in the staging area; and

merge the base layer and the received selected application layers onto the computing device to migrate the computing device from the legacy operating system to the new operating system with the corresponding applications installed on the new operating system.

8. The computing device of claim 7 , wherein the memory further includes instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:

capture user data and user settings from the computing device on the legacy operating system; and

migrate the captured user data and user settings to the computing device through a predefined protocol, the protocol including a mapping of user data locations and user setting locations from the legacy operating system to the new operating system.

9. The computing device of claim 7 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:

identify a particular application on the computing device prior to the migration;

identify a new version of the particular application, the new version being compatible with the new operating system;

wherein at least one of the selected application layers is an application layer for the new version of the particular application.

10. The computing device of claim 9 , further comprising:

an application version database containing information identifying, with respect to at least one application, a new version of the at least one application, the new version being compatible with the new operating system;

wherein the new version of the particular application is identified based on the database.

11. The computing device of claim 7 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:

identify additional applications based on a rule engine and select from the preexisting library application layers corresponding to the additional applications wherein, the rule engine defining which applications are to be installed on a particular computing device based on at least one of:

characteristics of the particular computing device; and

characteristics of a user of the particular computing device;

receive the selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications from the preexisting library on the central server;

store the received selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications in the staging area; and

merge the selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications onto the computing device during the migration of the computing device from the legacy operating system to the new operating system.

12. The computing device of claim 7 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:

transfer an application from the legacy operating system to the new operating system by transferring the application's files and the application's registry entries from the legacy operating system to the new operating system based on a predetermined mapping of the application's file locations and the application's registry entries between the legacy operating system and the new operating system.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions, the instructions when executed by one or more processors causing the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

receiving a request to migrate a computing device on a network from a legacy operating system to a new operating system, the network comprising a plurality of computing devices centrally managed by a central server, the central server comprising a preexisting library including a plurality of base layers and application layers, wherein different base layers in the preexisting library correspond to different operating systems;

creating a staging area on the computing device;

retrieving from the preexisting library a base layer corresponding to the requested new operating system, the base layer comprising an image that contains complete content of the new operating system such that merging the base layer onto the computing device installs the new operating system on the computing device;

storing the base layer in the staging area;

identifying what applications are present on the computing device and selecting from the preexisting library application layers corresponding to the identified applications;

receiving the selected application layers from the preexisting library on the central server, wherein each of the one selected application layers comprises complete content of a corresponding application such that merging the selected application layer onto the computing device installs the corresponding application on the computing device;

storing the received selected application layers in the staging area; and

merging the base layer and the received selected application layers onto the computing device to migrate the computing device from the legacy operating system to the new operating system with the corresponding applications installed on the new operating system.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

capturing user data and user settings from the computing device on the legacy operating system; and

migrating the captured user data and user settings to the computing device through a predefined protocol, the protocol including a mapping of user data locations and user setting locations from the legacy operating system to the new operating system.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

identifying a particular application on the computing device prior to the migration;

identifying a new version of the particular application, the new version being compatible with the new operating system;

wherein at least one of the selected application layers is an application layer for the new version of the particular application.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

identifying additional applications based on a rule engine and selecting from the preexisting library application layers corresponding to the additional applications, the rule engine defining which applications are to be installed on a particular computing device based on at least one of:

characteristics of the particular computing device; or

characteristics of a user of the particular computing device;

receiving the selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications from the preexisting library on the central server;

storing the received selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications in the staging area; and

merging the selected application layers corresponding to the additional applications onto the computing device during the migration of the computing device from the legacy operating system to the new operating system.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute the operations of:

transferring an application from the legacy operating system to the new operating system by transferring the application's files and the application's registry entries from the legacy operating system to the new operating system based on a predetermined mapping of the application's file locations and the application's registry entries between the legacy operating system and the new operating system.