Windows Vista
Windows Vista is Microsoft’s new operating system, and as with any new major release of operating system, it includes some considerable operational and security enhancements. Windows Vista represents a significant change from Windows XP. There are a number of issues to be worked through before we can offer support and migrate the campus: potential security issues, hardware incompatibility, software incompatibility, increased hardware requirements, training and documentation development, etc.
User Services and Student Computing will neither deploy nor support Vista until late Spring/Summer 2008.
This timeline is in keeping with the practices of major governmental and educational organizations (i.e., U.S. Department of FAA, Northwestern University, and Carnegie Mellon University) and will allow User Services and Student Computing time to fully test it within our environment. This will also allow time to determine and address security issues, develop training and documentation, as well as give vendors an opportunity to make their applications Windows Vista-compatible.
Many software vendors do not currently offer support for their products on Windows Vista. Of primary note is that WebCT Vista is NOT currently certified to run on Windows Vista. Faculty who do decide to upgrade to Vista at this point may encounter some issues using WebCT Vista.
To see if your applications are compatible, please visit the following sites:
Windows Vista “Certified” application list:
https://winqual.microsoft.com/member/softwarelogo/certifiedlist.aspx
Windows Vista Compatible List:
https://winqual.microsoft.com/member/softwarelogo/workswithlist.aspx
The projected timeline for implementation of Windows Vista is as follows:
Student Support - March 2007
Reason: Windows Vista is shipped on new retail computers and laptops. Student Computing provides basic support as it pertains to WebCT Vista, ResNet, and Distance Ed to the best of their ability.
Instructional Labs - Fall 2008
Reason: STCP open labs are expected to be migrated to Windows Vista for Fall 2008. Department labs wishing to migrate to Windows Vista may obtain a Windows Vista image from STCP during Summer 2008.
Campus Faculty and Staff – Late Spring 2008 or later
Reason: Campus support for Windows Vista will require sufficient time for campus technical staff to test application compatibility, determine security settings, and incorporate Windows Vista into the standard campus software image.
Please be aware that hardware requirements for Windows Vista are higher than XP—hardware upgrades to existing systems will likely be required.
Summary
The decisions about how and when to deploy major upgrades such as Office 2007 and Windows Vista are not easily made. There are conflicting requests and needs between the constituent groups, as well as a number of significant considerations such as training and support availability.
The deployment plan outlined above represents our best effort to deploy these products as quickly and responsibly as possible. The plan allows for approximately two and a half years for the deployment of Windows Vista. The extra time for Windows Vista is needed for testing to ensure that all applications and drivers work properly.
Built into this plan is a great deal of flexibility, allowing faculty and staff to decide, with just a few restrictions, the best time for them to make the switch once User Services officially declares support.
Even with great preparation, Windows Vista and Office 2007 deployment will not occur without some difficulty. Our goal is to eliminate as many of the potential problems as we can and to minimize inconvenience and loss of productivity. We welcome continued feedback from faculty, staff and students and will, as we move forward through the phases of the plan, continually review the plan and make adjustments where necessary.
