[Macpartners] Information Services & Technology Software Update for January 2004

[Deb Bowser]

Date: Friday January 30, 2004
To:  Members of the MIT Community: itpartners at mit.edu, macpartners at mit.edu, 
winpartners at mit.edu, sw-release-announce at mit.edu, ed-tech at mit.edu, 
linux-help at mit.edu
From: Software Release Team <swrt at mit.edu>
Subj: IS&T Software Update for January 2004
Cc:  is&t at mit.edu, itag at mit.edu, kakapo at mit.edu


This monthly communication is intended for Faculty, Staff and Students 
within the MIT Community, to provide updated information with regard to new 
and upcoming software products and services.

Topics of the month:
----------------------------------------
1. Recently released software
2. Software release efforts underway
3. Volume site license software update
4. Operating system support discontinuations
5. How are we doing?  Let us know

January brings us the first release of a RedHat Linux product, 
OpenAFS.  IS&T is excited to add this platform to our software release process.


1. Recent Releases
-------------------------------------------------------
Linux
-----------------
OpenAFS - January 22, 2004

Macintosh
-------------------
TSM 5.1.5 (OS 9) -  December 23, 2003
TSM 5.2 (OS X) - December 23, 2003

Windows
-----------------
There were no releases during the month of January

2. Software Release Efforts Underway
------------------------------------------------------
Linux
-----------
Redhat Network - Release effort underway - TBD

Macintosh
----------------
Eudora 5.2.3 - Fixing installer - February 2004
Eudora 6.0.2 for Mac OS X - Release Effort Ramping Up - TBD 2004
Mac OS X 10.3 - Release Effort Underway - February 2004
TechTime Oracle Sync for the PDA - Release Effort Underway (OS X) - March 2004

Windows
----------------
Eudora 5.2.1 - Fixing installer - February 2004
Office 2003 - February 2004
TechTime Oracle Sync for the PDA - Release Effort Underway - March 2004

To obtain information on any of the release efforts listed, please visit 
our page:  http://web.mit.edu/swrt

3. Volume Site License Software Update
----------------------------------------------------------
We continue to accept and process requests for Windows XP Professional from 
Faculty, Staff and Students.  If you are currently running Windows 2000, 
now is a good time to consider if you should replace the machine sometime 
this year or upgrade it to Windows XP before support is discontinued for 
Windows 2000 in December.  To request a license, follow the links for 
Windows at MIT:  http://web.mit.edu/is/products/vsls/.

Mac OS X 10.3:
IS&T is looking into purchasing a limited number of additional one-time 
licenses for Mac OS X 10.3.

A limited number of student licenses will be available shortly.  Follow the 
Mac OS at MIT link for updated 
information:  http://web.mit.edu/is/products/vsls/.

Information on obtaining additional licenses will be listed on our webpage 
as it becomes available.   If you require a license immediately,  you 
should purchase one from the Apple Education Store at the Academic rate: 
http://www.apple.com/education/store.

Matlab:
MIT's annual Matlab license expires this weekend.  If you have not already 
renewed your license, please fill out the request form for a new 
license.  If you have submitted a request and have not received your 
license or other follow up regarding your request, please send email to 
vsls at mit.edu to check on the status of your order.
https://web.mit.edu/is/products/vsls/speceng/matlab.html

4.  Operating Systems Support Discontinuation
  -------------------------------------------------------------
In order to provide excellent support for current Operating Systems and 
because vendors are discontinuing support for older Operating Systems, we 
are discontinuing support for the following operating systems as specified:

- Support for Macintosh OS 9 (all versions) will cease after June 30, 2004

- Support for Windows 2000 Professional will cease after December 31, 2004

Red Hat announced that their support for Red Hat 9 will end April 30, 
2004.  IS&T is investigating and working with the MIT Community towards a 
solution for current Red Hat 9 users.

For additional information on products scheduled for desupport, visit 
http://web.mit.edu/swrt/announcements/de-support-fy04.html

5. How are we doing? - Let us know
--------------------------------------------------------------
Do you find this communication helpful?  Are there other items of interest 
you would like to see included as well?  Please take a moment to let us know:
http://web.mit.edu/swrt/feedback.html

You can always send e-mail to swrt at mit.edu with any questions and comments 
you have pertaining to this communication or other software release matters.

Regards,
Deb Bowser
IS&T
Software Release Team