SHI, contractor for the State Large Account Reseller agreement for software, has announced that Windows 7 will be available for purchase by K-State departments as of Sept. 1. Note that this is an upgrade license only (a Microsoft Windows or Vista operating system must already be in place on the desktop/notebook computer to install Windows 7).
Pricing is expected to be similar to Vista products, both for the license and the media. License-key distribution will also continue in a similar manner.
Harvard Townsend, K-State’s chief information security officer, urges people to delay putting Windows 7 into production and only buy it now for testing. He cites several reasons:
- It’s a major new operating system, so the software and applications you normally use may not work, although Microsoft claims compatibility with applications and hardware supported by Windows Vista. Don’t believe it — test EVERY application you use.
- You may have to buy new versions of applications to get them to work with Windows 7, which is a problem in this year of reduced budgets.
- It requires Trend Micro OfficeScan 10, which is available but currently being tested by SIRT before it’s supported campuswide.
- It’s different, so people may need training or at least experience a time of frustration and reduced productivity while they learn.
Since new computers are expected to start shipping with Windows 7 after Oct. 22, it’s a good idea for system administrators to get a copy of Windows 7 now to 1) start testing every application used by their department, and 2) update their antivirus infrastructure to OfficeScan 10. Watch InfoTech Tuesday for more information on the latter.
Contact Kathy Leonard (785-532-4926, kantink@k-state.edu) or SHI (888-394-5232, kona@shi.com) for further information.
