[Macpartners] Countdown to Discontinuing Support for Mac OS 9

[Deb Bowser]

Good morning:

We would like to take this opportunity to remind the community that all 
versions of Mac OS 9 are targeted for retirement on June 30, 2004. We 
understand the significance of this change, so we would like to know how 
each Department, Lab, and Center is progressing with their upgrade efforts 
to Mac OS X 10.2.x or later. Most importantly, are you aware of this 
operating systems' retirement and are you able to accomplish the upgrades 
by June 30th?

Should you require any assistance, we encourage you to contact us (Software 
Release team, swrt at mit.edu) so we can direct you to those who can best help 
you. We realize that keeping pace with current OS and applications benefits 
everyone, so we strive to upgrade users from aging operating systems on 
equipment with sufficient specifications to run the latest operating 
system.  Additional information to consider when planning a transition to 
MacOS X is available at:  <http://itinfo.mit.edu/article?id=6939>, as well 
as training opportunities.  These initiatives align with that goal, and we 
hope you take advantage of our offer to help you.

Since the Fall of 2003, Information Services and Technology, through 
various outreach efforts and the Software Release Team's Monthly Updates, 
has communicated the retirement of operating systems and applications for 
this fiscal year.  As part of our efforts to ensure a high level of quality 
support for the Macintosh and Windows platforms, IS&T, in conjunction with 
our IT Colleagues, reviewed the vast operating system combinations we 
supported and their corresponding vendor support statements.

Our review identified the discontinuation of support for Mac OS 9 based on 
the following information:
  - Retirement of this OS is underway across the industry and we are in 
step with the vendors.
  - All new Macs that have been sold since January 2002 have had Mac OS X 
factory-set as the default operating system.
  - Effective January 2003, all new Macs boot directly into OS X.
  - Mac OS 10.2 became available in August 2002.
  - Since IS&T's announcement of current OS X license availability in 
November and again in March, 1,115 licenses have been distributed to-date.

If you are interested in viewing the initial announcement please see:
http://web.mit.edu/swrt/announcements/de-support-fy04.html

IS&Ts' retirement of an operating system or application signifies that we 
will no longer:
- test applications within that operating system configuration
- develop custom installers for that operating system or application
- update documentation specific to that operating system or application

Furthermore, questions or newly identified problems related to the 
operating system or application will not be pursued unless the application 
is considered to be critical (i.e., email, backup, etc).  IS&T will provide 
guidance and assistance in upgrading to a current supported version.

In closing, our thanks to all IT-Partners who assisted in reviewing vendor 
requirements necessary to set this operating system retirement and planning 
your department's upgrade strategies. If you need assistance, please 
contact your local IT desktop support liaison or, send e-mail to the 
Software Release team <swrt at mit.edu>; we will review and forward requests 
to the appropriate IS&T and Enterprise Applications teams.

Deb Bowser
IS&T
Software Release Team