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Issue
51 - March 2007
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Windows
Vista at CityU
By
Kevin Chan, Joe Lee
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On 29 January 2007, Microsoft launched Windows Vista, the
latest major version of their operating system for PCs since
the launch of Windows XP five years ago. A team of IT professionals
from the Computing Services Centre (CSC) have been engaged
to evaluate Vista and determine when and how it should be
deployed. Initially Vista will be made available in all lecture
theatres, classrooms and the CSC Terminal Area. Details and
timeline of the CSC’s support plan will be outlined in this
article.
Much has changed in this operating system. To prepare you
for a few of these changes, here lists some of its new and
improved features benefiting different user types.
For All Users:
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New GUI (Windows Aero™) provides better
stability, improved user experience, richer visualization
and easier navigation
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This high-end, visually appealing interface
uses transparency and other eye-candy techniques. It
will only operate if the PC's video card is robust enough;
otherwise a more basic interface, such as Windows Classic,
is installed as the default.
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Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D offer
new ways to manage windows. Flip provides a 'live' thumbnail
shot of the contents of each window, while Flip 3D makes
use of the mouse's scroll wheel to navigate through
a stack of open windows
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Windows Sidebar provides a side panel
for desktop gadgets, small mini-applications for things
like displaying weather information and news updates,
calendar, etc.
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With built-in diagnostics, SuperFetch™
and ReadyBoost™ capabilities, the PC will be more reliable,
responsive and hence result in higher user productivity
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Powerful search capabilities help users
to find almost everything on their PCs
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A new Instant Search tool on the Start
menu eliminates the slow cascading 'All Programs' view.
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Windows BitLocker™ Drive Encryption protects
data when laptop is lost or stolen, and also when the old
hard disk is going to be disposed
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More secure wireless connections that protect
mobile users
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Improved power management that expands
battery life
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User Account Control that reduces the attack
areas while minimizing disruptions to user productivity
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A more secure User Account Control
system means there is less need to apply risky administrator
privileges to get full functionality for a user
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New imaging format that allows for hardware
and language independence to reduce number of desktop images
needed when deploying to corporate PCs with a variety of
hardware and language settings
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Improved tools for deploying and managing
image-based installations of the operating system on
a network of PCs
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Advanced Group Policies to better manage
critical usage scenarios and corporate PCs
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Almost twice as many policies available
to Vista
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About 3000 Policies now in Vista
(1600 in Windows XP)
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Policy areas now include applications,
printer management and USB devices
While it is certain that Windows Vista will run more effectively
on a brand new PC (certified for Windows Vista), Microsoft
claims that the minimum system requirements for running Vista
are:
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800MHz processor and 512MB of system memory
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20GB hard disk with at least 15GB free
space
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To be able to get a reasonable performance and get the best
out of Vista, including the Windows Aero experience, additional
hardware is required. The recommended hardware requirements
are:
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40GB hard disk with at least 15GB free
space
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Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
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Minimum 128MB of graphics memory
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Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
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Therefore, in order to have a suitable environment to run
Vista, most PCs on campus will have to be upgraded to match
the requirements.
The Initial Plan
As Windows Vista is the most advanced PC operating system
today, the CSC is working hard to design and implement a suitable
working model for the campus environment and make it available
for teaching and learning. Again, it may take some time for
the CSC and some other service providers to solve the hardware
and software compatibility issues before a campus-wide deployment.
As a pilot run, Windows Vista will be made available in the
CSC Teaching Studios, Library’s Information Space, Lecture
Theatres and Classrooms in late August 2007 before Semester
A commences. Dual operating systems (Windows Vista and XP)
will be provided on all PCs in the above-mentioned areas.
While the Windows XP environment will be left intact, the
Windows Vista environment will be launched together with some
selected popular applications such as Microsoft Office 2007,
Internet Explorer 7.0 as well as some updated Microsoft software/applications
under the Campus Agreement. Software installations in the
Vista environment for teaching and learning are welcome, but
academic departments are expected to provide the software
versions that are Vista compatible.
In order to help users get familiar with Windows Vista and
Microsoft Office 2007, the CSC has already run two related
Forums. Training courses will be offered to staff when the
Windows Vista environment and Microsoft Office 2007 are ready.
Invitation to training courses will be made through the normal
staff development channel in AIMS and on the Staff e-Portal
login page. As for staff PCs, we would have to make sure that
all e-Learning, administrative systems are fully compatible
with Vista before a large scale deployment of Vista will be
made. We don’t have an accurate estimation of the time frame
yet. If everything goes smoothly, it may happen as early as
Semester B of 2007-08. However, we expect that some of the
newly purchased PCs used for special purposes or those involved
in research projects might choose Windows Vista earlier than
the university-wide deployment.
Conclusion
Although academic institutions all over the world are hit
by the Windows Vista wave, most of them are not ready to support
it. For example, MIT
currently does not recommend it, as many critical applications
are not available yet. Also, Harvard
provides limited support until Windows Vista passes their
testing criteria and recommends users to wait until Service
Pack 1 is available. Other similar recommendations can easily
be found on the Internet. For the benefit of the CityU community,
it is therefore recommended not be in any great rush to adopt
Windows Vista. Windows Vista has not been thoroughly tested
in terms of security and compatibility with the current campus
applications, and it requires a computer newer or better equipped
than what is currently available on campus.
Related resources
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And also some news about upgrading to Vista in various sites:
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