Tech Tip Tuesday: Get ready for summer computer replacement

From Information Resources and Technologies

IRT's plans for the summer and the computer replacement cycle is well underway. If you are slated to get a new computer this summer, you recently should have received the second in a series of three messages from us. We realize your computer plays an important part in the work you do at the university. Since we're assigning you a better and faster computer, we want to be sure that you can take full advantage of it right away. That means you should know what you need to do, what's happening and when, what you have on your computer, what you can do to request additional technology, where to go for more answers, and when we will talk next. To get answers to these questions, we have put together a FAQ page 0n the IRT Web site.

New software

As new computers are installed, you'll notice that most, if not all, of the software you are running on your "new" machine is the same as on your "old" machine. We want to limit disruption to your workflow.

Here are a few notes about new software of which you should be aware:

• Microsoft Windows Vista
  We will not migrate new computers to Vista this coming summer. Vista is a new operating system that requires a different approach to computer management. While visually appealing, Vista does not offer increased functionality in core performance areas. We will continue to look at Vista over the coming months – it's possible that we'll install it on computers in 2008.

• Microsoft Office 2007
  Office 2007 presents a format change for documents and an extremely different look and feel to Office (menus as we know them are gone). We will test Office 2007 and make sure it's compatible with existing systems before rolling it out to new computers.

• SPSS and Minitab
  Both SPSS and Minitab have new versions that we will have on the public lab computers. If you'd like to upgrade to the latest version on your desktop computer, please contact the Tech Desk after your computer has been replaced and we'll take care of it.

• Adobe Acrobat
  If you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat (Standard or Pro), you may want to consider upgrading to Version 8 to be compatible with Adobe Reader 8 (the read only version of Acrobat, which will be on all new computers this summer). If you do want to move to Acrobat Standard or Pro 8, please contact the Tech Desk after your computer has been replaced and we'll take care of it.

As always, if you have questions about technology, contact your Academic Technology Consultant/Administrative CORE Consultant or the IRT Tech Desk at IRTHelp@stthomas.edu or (651) 962-6230.