[Macpartners] IS&T Software Update for February 2006

[Jonathan M. Hunt]

Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
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 February 2006
Cc:  is&t at mit.edu, itag at mit.edu, it-lead at mit.edu


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

Topics of the month:
----------------------------------------
1. Recently released software
2. Software release efforts underway
3. Email Migration at MIT
4. What's new
5. Volume & site license software update
6. Windows automatic update service (WAUS)
7. How are we doing?  Let us know


1. Recent Releases
---------------------------------------------------------
The team has many release efforts underway and/or ramping up.  In addition,
we have expanded our staff to include a new Windows Platform Coordinator and
a Linux Platform Coordinator.  We anticipate some time is needed to bring
our new team members up-to-speed.

2. Software Release Efforts Underway
------------------------------------------------------
Linux
-----------
None


Macintosh
----------------
iPassConnect 2.37 - Release effort ramping up - April

Windows
-----------------
iPassConnect 3.40 - Release effort ramping up - April
Kerberos for Windows (KfW) 3.1 - Release effort ramping up - Winter 2006
Windows Defender beta 2 (formerly known as MS Anti-Spyware) - evaluation
underway - TBD
SecureCRT 3.0.5 - Testing wrapping up - March
SecureFX - 5.0.5 - Testing wrapping up - March
Microsoft Vista beta - evaluation underway - TBD
Windows XP 64-bit - evaluation underway - TBD

To obtain information on any of the software release efforts or other
projects underway, please visit our page:

         <http://web.mit.edu/swrt/>


3. Email Migration at MIT
------------------------------------------------------
IS&T wishes to remind the MIT community of available assistance and support
in place to assist in the email migration:

Centrally Located Services:
Attend scheduled Quick Start classes on Outlook Express, Outlook 2003, and
Apple Mail at no cost- see
http://web.mit.edu/swrt/releases/emailmigration/index.html#events for more
information. 

Schedule an appointment with the Help desk at 617.253.1101 or send email to
<computing-help at mit.edu> to bring in your laptop.  Consultants will help
existing Eudora users configure and import their existing email from Eudora
to the recommended IMAP email applications. There is no cost if scheduled
prior to March 15, 2006.

Step-by-step webcasts to walk you through the migration process:
http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/email/webcasts.html

Services for your Department, Lab or Center:
Migration assistance as part of your DITR SLA. There is no additional cost.
( http://web.mit.edu/ist/ditr) 

Migration assistance for those without a DITR SLA. There is no cost if
scheduled prior to March 15, 2006. 

On-site Outlook and AppleMail Quick Start sessions for your staff provided
by IS&T. There is no cost if scheduled prior to March 15, 2006. 
 
Please contact email-migration at mit.edu to arrange for any of these DLC
services. Note: Services requested after March 15, 2006 will have an
associated fee, except for DLCs who currently have a DITR SLA.

For further information on services and support, please see the Email
Migration at MIT website:
         <http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/email/migration.html>

Should you have any questions or need assistance, please email the team
directly:  <email-migration at mit.edu>.


4. What's New:
---------------------------
Apple began shipping Intel-based Macintosh computers in early January; some
applications that IS&T supports and distributes currently do not work on
these Intel Macs:

* Matlab
* SAPgui 6.30, 6.40
* VPN client 4.8
* Virtual PC (part of Office 2004 Professional for Macintosh)

IS&T is monitoring the situation and will provide further updates as
information becomes available.  For more information on the new Intel-based
Mac's, visit the Apple Site:  <http://www.apple.com/>.

To see a list of what does and does not work, please see the Mac Partners
blog:
 
http://usergroups.mit.edu/macpartners/archives/2006/02/software_that_r.html 

New Staff Members:
-------------------------------
Please join me in welcoming Alex Kozlov <akozlov at mit.edu> as the Windows
Platform Coordinator and Bill Cattey <wdc at mit.edu> as the Linux Platform
Coordinator for the Software Release Team (SWRT).  Both Alex and Bill will
reside with the team in W92.

5. Volume & Site License Software Update
--------------------------------------------------------------
VSLS is completing the acquisition of the Matlab Distribute Computing
Toolbox (DCT) to offer along with our other Matlab toolboxes in the next two
weeks. The Matlab DCT will enable more efficient usage of Matlab licenses
for high performance computing clusters.  To utilize the DCT, you will also
need to purchase the appropriate Matlab Distributed Computing Engine (MDCE)
for your cluster directly from Mathworks.  The MDCE has to be configured for
each cluster and the most efficient way is for you to work directly with
Mathworks to determine the need and configuration.  

Check the Volume Site License site: < http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/vsls/>
for news, updates and ordering procedures for Matlab and other products.


6.  Windows Automatic Update Service (WAUS)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We recommend users configure their Windows machines to use MIT's Windows
Automatic Update Service (WAUS) for critical patches and service pack
deployment.

WSUS is here.  MIT WAUS now deploys updates for Microsoft Office products.
Check the Approved Updates page for details regarding deployed packages.
WSUS also adds support for 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems.  For
more information about and instructions on how to configure your machines to
use WAUS, see the WAUS documentation:

        <http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/windows/updates/>


7. 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>

Send email to <swrt at mit.edu> with any questions and comments you have
pertaining to this communication or other software release matters.

Sent on behalf of:
Deb Bowser
Team Leader - Software Release Team
Client Support Services
Information Services and Technology (IS&T)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room W92-176
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-253-3879
bowser at mit.edu