[WinPartners] Microsoft Vista Update - Full Support and Migration Guidelines

[alexander kozlov]

Information Services & Technology (IS&T) is pleased to offer full support
for all systems running business-class versions of Windows Vista and has
recommended guidelines for safe migration paths.

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SUPPORT FOR VISTA
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* IS&T offers FULL SUPPORT for business-class versions of Vista including:

(1) Business Edition (32-bit only)
(2) Enterprise Edition (32-bit only) - Available for free download through
Microsoft Campus Agreement at MIT (MSCA) at
<http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/software/msca.html>
(3) Ultimate Edition (32- bit only) - Support excludes the Media Center
components

Find Vista edition comparisons at one of the Microsoft sites below:
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx
>
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/footnotes.mspx>   

* IS&T CONTINUES SUPPORT OF WINDOWS XP and DOES NOT RECOMMEND that you do a
direct upgrade of your existing operating system to Vista. 

* IS&T will provide SUPPORT FOR CORE FUNCTIONALITY of Vista Home Basic and
Home Premium editions. However, IS&T does not recommend these editions and
will support them on a best-effort basis only.

* IS&T DOES NOT SUPPORT 64-bit versions of Vista because some critical
applications, such as Cisco VPN, do not work on these versions.

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RECOMMENDED MIGRATION PATHS from Windows XP to Vista
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After extensive evaluation IS&T recommends one of the two possible migration
paths:  

* Buying a new computer with Vista business-class preinstalled
* Performing a "clean install" on an existing XP system

For a comprehensive summary of Vista Migration Guidelines visit
<http://itinfo.mit.edu/article.php?id=8697>

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Ready to Migrate to Vista?  Factors to consider before migration.
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IS&T recommends that you consider the following before deciding to migrate
to Vista:

* Find out if your DLC is ready to support Vista.
* Make sure your applications are compatible with Vista (this would include
special local applications that your DLC uses).
* Consider training options (The Vista user experience and graphical user
interface are different from that of XP, so the MIT community should
anticipate facing a learning curve.)

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GETTING HELP
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General Help - Computing Help Desk
* Phone: (617) 253-1101
* Email: computing-help at mit.edu
* Web request: <http://web.mit.edu/ist/helpdesk/>   

Training - Vista Quick Start or Hands-On Class Schedule & information at
<http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/training/index.html> 
  
Other Info on Vista:

Visit the Microsoft Vista web page and see "Help and How-to" at
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista>  

Vista Product information is available at
<http://itinfo.mit.edu/product.php?vid=735>
  


Alexander Kozlov
Windows Platform Coordinator
Software Release Team
Information Services & Technology
MIT
N42-250C, Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: akozlov at mit.edu

Tel  (617) 253-5103
Fax (617) 258-8736