Network Computing | ||
Issue
56 - June 2008
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While some offices have managed to replace their staff PCs from time to time using their own resources, yet around 1,100 units of desktop PCs that are at least 3 years old are still being used by various administrative and support offices. Such old models are incapable of handling the Microsoft’s new operating system - Windows Vista, which the CSC plans to launch later this year and it requires at least 1GB on-board memory and faster CPU speed to run. In this connection, the Budget Committee has resolved to fund the replacement of the existing staff PCs for administrative & academic support offices in order to enhance the work efficiency. The Computing Services Centre (CSC) has been appointed to co-ordinate with offices on this exercise. The Principal criteria for replacement consideration are:
Below is the configuration of the new system unit:
In addition to the hardware replacement, staff should also upgrade their software by having Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 installed on the new system units. Even for some justifiable reason(s), if staff members need to stick with Windows XP for a while, they are still recommended to upgrade to Office 2007 as soon as possible in order to maintain compatibility with documents created by the majority of colleagues. As with any software upgrade, the improved user interface will take some time to get used to initially. However, once familiarized, the new and powerful features should improve one's productivity tremendously. In this connection, the CSC will organize relevant courses to assist our colleagues in picking up the Windows Vista and/or Microsoft Office 2007. Staff should watch out for CSC’s announcement on these courses. Since this exercise involves quite a number of departments and computers, the length of the processes for the hardware replacement and the software upgrade will be very long. The implementation is expected to start this coming July and complete before the end of December 2008. The time required for each individual system migration will depend on the size and any complications that may arise, but the normal migration time will be a day or two. To minimize the impact on staff members, a planned and compromised schedule with the Departmental Network Administrator (DNA) will be prepared in advance. |
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