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Windows Vista: The Upgrade Dilemma
UPDATED: March 2008
ITSS staff have been running and testing Windows Vista since its release to the University in February 2007. While many of the earlier issues have been resolved, there are still some concerns with performance and compatibility.
Recommendation
In general, ITSS advises that customers running Windows XP on their current computers do not upgrade to Windows Vista. Most of the hardware on these older computers will not be robust enough to provide satisfactory service.
If you are purchasing a new computer, ITSS recommends that you review the issues below to decide if Windows Vista will meet your work requirements. If you decide to purchase Windows Vista, choose either:
- Windows Vista Enterprise (University site license)
- Windows Business
- Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows Vista - Support Status
General problems or concerns
- Hardware requirements
- Many older computers (especially laptops) will not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows Vista. Additionally, Microsoft's minimum requirements fall short of what you need to run reliably.
Item Microsoft recommendation ITSS recommendation Processor 1 GHz 2.5 GHz RAM 1 GB 2 GB Graphics Memory 28MB-256Mb 256Mb minimum - Hardware and software drivers
- Most software and hardware drivers are available for Windows Vista. However, if you run specialized software or hardware, you should check with the vendor before upgrading.
- Video / DVD
- Video viewing: Requires a 3rd party program such as ViewDVD.
- CD/DVD burning: The built-in CD/DVD burning tools in Windows Vista are slow and cumbersome. ITSS staff have tested a few free-ware programs that work with both Windows XP and Vista:
University specific problems or concerns
- Quickstart / Security settings
- A version of Quickstart for Windows Vista has been released by the Twin Cities. This version of QuickStart will need to be run on all Windows Vista computers.
- For more information about Windows Vista security, see: GUIDELINE - Windows Vista Desktop Computer Security
- Novell Office Server access
- A version of the Novell client is available from ITSS for Windows Vista. However, customers will need to change their current Novell printing from NDPS to iPrint.
- Samba access
- Access to Samba services (MyWeb, MyFiles, printing) with Vista has been tested and approved.
- VPN access
- A VPN client for Windows Vista has been released and is available here: VPN: Virtual Private Network. ITSS staff have seen sporadic problems with the installation process.
- Symantec Anti-virus (SAV)
- The University has released a Symantec client for Vista. It is available here: Installing the Symantec client (Windows) However, problems persist with the Live Update feature of the Vista client. The Twin Cities staff have released details on how to fix the Vista/Live Update problem. See: How do I get Live Update to work with Windows Vista
- PeopleSoft
- Using Vista and IE7 to access PeopleSoft has been tested and certified; this means that most people who access PeopleSoft can use Vista. However, those that have a PeopleSoft client installed on their desktop (2-tier access) to allow for testing on different instances and development should wait, as the client software has not yet been certified to work with Vista.
- Famis
- Some features do not work properly; more testing is being done.
- Office 2003 / 2007
- Windows Vista requires Office 2007, which in turn requires Adobe Acrobat 8. This may be an issue if you share files with others on campus who are using Office 2003 or if you have/require an older version of Adobe Acrobat.