Update on New Software

When it comes to new software, a lot of people don’t like change. But, like a river, the tide of new software keeps flowing, flooding the shores from time to time. Here are some updates on new software we’ve been getting questions about at the Help Desk:

Microsoft Office: OIT has been offering installation and support for Microsoft Office 2007 for PC and Office 2008 for Mac for quite some time. Several departments and individuals have already upgraded to these latest versions of Microsoft’s venerable desktop productivity suite.

Other areas are completing testing on Office 2007 features that integrate with PeopleSoft Finance in hopes of upgrading their machines to Office 2007 soon.

Microsoft officially ended support for Office 2003 several months ago, and as such, OIT will be moving all supported computers to Office 2007 in early 2010 (just about the time the new Office 2010 suite is released).

However, many of you are currently holding on to Microsoft Office 2003 like a security blanket (you know who you are), primarily because of the graphic interface changes in Office 2007. Office 2007 really isn’t that hard to get used to; Microsoft has made available some helpful online tools to assist you in finding your way around Office 2007.

If you’d like to have Office 2007 installed on your computer, please contact the Help Desk or your local college or area netadmin. There is no charge for Office 2007 for University-owned computers, due to our Microsoft Site License.

Windows Vista: OIT is skipping support for Windows Vista, in favor of upgrading computers beginning in early 2010 from Windows XP to…

Windows 7: We’ve been testing Windows 7 for a while now within our office, and we like what we see. We have some new computer management software to get up and running first (plus some in-depth testing and development of information resources) before we’ll start installing Windows 7 on OIT-supported computers, but rest assured Windows 7 will be a priority for us in 2010.

Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard): Snow Leopard was released in late August, and we’re waiting on a compatible enterprise antivirus client from Symantec before we can provide support for OS X 10.6 on University-owned computers. Plus, there are still some odd glitches with Gmail in both Firefox and Safari (seemingly related to issues with Flash incorporation), as well as Adobe CS4 software, that should make you think twice about upgrading at this time.

Have questions about Office 2007, Microsoft Windows or OS X? Contact the Help Desk at 426-4357, or email us at helpdesk@boisestate.edu