Windows Vista
The following is a list of policies, procedures and suggestions regarding Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system
Updates as of April 17, 2007 for departments ready to purchase PC's with XP, but want to upgrade to Vista later:
- Vista upgrades are available for a $41 upcharge at time of purchase of a PC from Dell or Gateway. Contact Purchasing 581-7474 for details.
- Later upgrades to Vista will be available for purchase from our Microsoft products supplier for $54 for the Business Edition and $99 for the Enterprise edition. Contact Purchasing for details. 581-7747
EIU ITS Microsoft Vista Support Status as of April 12, 2007
Information Technology Services will not provide support of Windows Vista and Office 2007 until July 1, 2007. Any Vista and Office 2007 support requests between now and July 1, will be handled on a "best effort" basis. ITS is providing this limited Vista support because most store-bought PC's (such as those owned by students) cannot be purchased without Vista.
PC purchase recommendations for EIU as of April 12, 2007
ITS is recommending that Vista PC's not be ordered for administrative applications at this time because of known system incompatibilities. Some administrative and academic units may have internal support mechanisms to handle or work around the issues; nonetheless they should check the website below at the time of ordering because some incompatibilities may remain unsolved for several more months.
ITS maintains this page in order to answer Vista questions and outline recommendations for minimum hardware purchase standards for PC's. The website is updated as new information becomes available. Microsoft, along with the rest of the industry, is working steadily to solve remaining compatibility issues. At the time of this writing, the salient incompatibilities continue to exist, those being, the Banner interface, Cisco wireless connectivity, and the mainframe terminal interface.
Given that purchase deadlines are approaching, ITS recommends that "top-down" decisions regarding Vista be made by VP's/Deans/Directors based on the risks faced by their respective units. Also, given that some incompatibilities (see website above) might not be completely solved by the start of the upcoming academic year, it seems prudent to avoid all Vista purchases until the next purchasing cycle (i.e., late FY 08.)
Ordering recommendations for "Vista-ready" PC's are outlined at the website above. Purchases of certain models of PC's from Gateway and Dell include provisions for an upgrade to Vista at the time of purchase, or for an upgrade at a later date.
ITS - April 12, 2007 (Chatterji)
What version of Windows Vista is required by Information Technology Services ?
Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate
Recommended minimum hardware requirements for Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate
- 1-gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) processor or 1-GHz 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB of system memory
- Windows Aero-capable graphics card
Note This includes a DirectX 9-class graphics card that supports the following:
- A WDDM driver
- Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
- 32 bits per pixel
- 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
- 40-GB hard disk that has 15 GB of free hard disk space (the 15GB of free space provides room for temporary file storage during the install or upgrade.)
- Internal or external DVD drive
- Internet access capability
- Audio output capability
Note A Windows Aero-capable graphics card is a graphics card that meets the following requirements:
- Supports a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver
- Has a DirectX 9-class graphics processor unit (GPU) that supports Pixel Shader 2.0
- Supports 32 bits per pixel
- Passes the Windows Aero acceptance test in the Windows Driver Kit (WDK)
For more information about the different editions of Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/default.mspx
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