Summer 2009 Technology Updates

This was a relatively quiet year for everyone with no major software changes.  We continue to run Windows XP and Office 2007 on Windows machines, and OS 10.5 (Leopard) and Office 2008 with Entourage on Macintoshes.  Most faculty and staff running three year old PCs received new HP 7900 machines with Intel® Core 2 Duo 3.0GHz processors, 3 GB memory, 160 GB hard drives, and CD/DVD rewritable combo drives.  One notable change is the new PC’s do not have floppy drives. If you have floppy disks that you need to use, please let us know. 

So, you may be wondering – what happened to Vista?  After careful consideration, we decided to postpone the Vista update indefinitely.  Basically, we concluded there was no compelling reason to update -- Windows XP has been very solid and runs all needed software.  In addition, we had some concerns about performance and software/hardware compatibility.  The intention is to wait for Windows 7, which we currently anticipate we’ll be rolling out in summer 2011.

Windows Rollout

Mark Roe, our summer rollout manager, coordinated with various departments to implement the rollout schedule for new and updated Windows machines.  The following workstation replacements occurred in summer 2009.

• All full time faculty and staff with Gateway E-4500 workstations received new HP 7900 PCs.
• All Gateway laptops that were purchased in the 2005/06 fiscal year or earlier were replaced.
• Most Gateway E-4300 systems in use by adjunct faculty, emeriti faculty, student employees, and graduate assistants were replaced with recycled Gateway E-4500 workstations.

If you have any questions or concerns about your new machine, please contact Mark Roe at 465 - 2590 or email roem@uwgb.edu.  (Please note:  Although your department may be listed on the schedule, it does not mean that everyone in the department received a new machine.  Even those departments who had only a few older machines replaced appear on the schedule.  Please refer to the models listed above as a guide.)

Macintosh Users

Faculty and staff using Macintoshes received new machines in summer 2008, so no new Macs were delivered this year.  Mac users continue to run OS 10.5 (Leopard), Office 2008 with entourage, and ADmitMac to interface with Windows networking services.  Josh Goldman visited select Mac users to make sure their machines were current.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Josh at 465 - 2186 or goldmanj@uwgb.edu.

Student Labs

Student general access labs and most specialty labs were updated in May immediately after spring semester finals (May 19-22).

• We purchased 74 new Hewlett Packard PCs for the main IS General Access lab. These machines have 3 .0 GHz dual-core processors, 3 GB memory, 160 GB hard drives, and CD/DVD rewritable combo drives. 

• We purchased 20 new 20” dual-core 2.4 GHz iMacs with 2 GB memory and superdrives for the main IS General Access lab.

• We redeployed the Windows machines coming out of the General Access lab to the Writing lab, the Social Science lab, the Ecology lab, and the American Intercultural Center.

• We redeployed 18 2.0 GHz iMacs to the Music lab and the Drama/CADD lab.

• We installed a version update and newer, faster PCs to our Remote Lab to improve performance, so please check out this great service! . Applications available through the Remote Lab include Dreamweaver, Photoshop, PrintMaster, and SQL Server Management Studio, as well as the usual software found in the General Access lab.  You may also not be aware that you can now log into several specialty labs after hours to use software only available in these labs.

• There are three teaching labs available for general use by students when classes are not in session.   These are MAC 120 (Social Science), Wood Hall 321/327, and Lab Sciences 102.  They are open to all students from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. M-F.  Signage and schedules appear outside these labs.