Administrative Computing Services -- Medgar Evers College

Administrative Computing Services Center (ACSC)

Policy on Support for Microsoft Windows Vista

As members of the Medgar Evers College Community may know from the extensive press coverage, Microsoft's client Operating System, Windows Vista, is now available. Although the changes to Vista from Windows XP appear relatively minor on the surface, most of the changes in Vista are "under the hood" -- structural changes in the way the OS operates internally. Unlike Windows XP, which internally was quite similar to its predecessor Windows 2000 Professional, Windows Vista introduces an entirely new approach to security and OS control that is far more complex than the older model. The result is that, in order to fully support Vista, organizations need to implement major changes to their internal software and business processes, most of which are geared towards delivering services to the Windows 2000/XP model.

Additionally, new Microsoft Operating Systems historically have not stabilized for at least 6-9 months after their release, meaning that even as we develop and modify our back end systems to match Microsoft's new OS, that OS is going to be in flux. It is critical that we wait until Microsoft settles its development cycle and stabilizes the OS before we deploy this OS to end users, who will expect it to be as reliable as the OS they currently use.

As a result of these changes, and in order to ensure the highest standard of service for users of all editions of Windows, ACSC will postpone support of Windows Vista until we have prepared the network for introduction of Vista and make the necessary back-end changes to allow Vista to function comfortably in our network aside Windows XP. Once we believe that Vista is in a stable state, and that our network is ready to support that state, we will initiate support for the OS and notify the Medgar Evers College community.