Microsoft Windows Vista

Windows Vista Premium Ready: Official recommended hardware requirements by Microsoft (to install Windows Vista)

Microsoft has announced January 30, 2007 to be the scheduled release date of Windows Vista, Microsoft’s latest Desktop Operating System.  It has been more than five years since Microsoft’s last major release, Windows XP.  Microsoft promises that Vista has been heavily tested and claims that major steps were taken during development to ensure greater security, reliability and usability. 

With Windows Vista, Microsoft accommodates all types of PC users by providing five different versions tailored for basic home users’ needs to the demands of corporate global organizations.  With these versions, Microsoft takes a major step with a wide range of desirable features offering Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate and Vista Enterprise.  UMass Boston will be implementing Vista Enterprise to meet the needs of our diverse user community as this version offers higher levels of data protection, tools to improve application compatibility and a multi-language support interface to name a few.

Visit Microsoft to learn more about the various available versions of Windows Vista. Microsoft Vista Versions

UMass Boston’s Information Technology Division is now actively evaluating and testing this new OS for University approved software and hardware compatibility.  A full and complete assessment of Vista and how it will fit our UMass software/hardware environment is mandatory for smooth migration and upgrade. Unless you have a distinct need for upgrading to Vista, we recommend that our users wait until we have fully tested and evaluated the product and are fully prepared to support it. Until this time, IT will unfortunately not be prepared to provide appropriate support and will not be responsible for any unfavorable repercussion or loss of critical data resulting in a premature installation of Windows Vista.

IT will keep the UMB user community informed regarding an estimated timeframe of when a fully supported deployment of Vista will begin. 

Timelines:

Time Line: Microsoft

According to Microsoft the expected time for Vista release to retail is January 30, 2007.

Time Line: IT-UMB:

IT support will be available from August 1st, 2007. 
Training : To be determined

System Requirements:

Windows Vista Capable PC:  Minimum hardware requirements for running Windows Vista

  • 800 MHz processor
  • 512 MB of RAM
  • DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor
  • 15 GB of free hard drive space
  • CD-ROM drive

Windows Vista Premium Ready:  Official recommended hardware requirements by Microsoft (to install Windows Vista)

  • 1 GHz  processor
  • 1 GB of RAM
  • DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor with WDDM driver support, 128 MB of graphics memory (256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 1920x1200), Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
  • 40 GB Hard Drive with 15 GB of free hard drive space
  • DVD-ROM drive

Notable features:

Windows Vista will have hundreds of new features. These include:

  • Windows Aero: the new set of features for the graphical user interface that provides window transparency, animations, shadows, and other aesthetic and layout features
  • Search as you type: integrated into the Start menu and multiple locations. For instance, this enables you to start Microsoft Word by simply pressing the Windows key to open up the Start Menu, typing "Word", and pressing "Enter", instead of having to browse through "Program Files" or browsing through your computer
  • Windows Sidebar: a side panel that runs widgets, such as notes, stock tickers, Calculators, etc.
  • Internet Explorer 7: the latest internet browser from Microsoft, featuring tabbed browsing and better security
  • Windows Defender: Microsoft's new Windows-integrated anti-malware program
  • Windows Media Player 11: the newest media player from Microsoft
  • User Account Control: for protection against programs installing without your permission
  • Super Fetch: a memory management feature that speeds up many applications  
  • Vista by learning, based on memory usage patterns, the most commonly used files and pre-loading them into memory
  • Ready Boost: allows you to insert a USB Flash drive and have the system use it like RAM
  • Ready Drive: takes advantage of new hybrid drives (hard drives that have flash memory built-in) to greatly reduce boot-up, hibernation, and sleep time, along with any application that does a lot of reading/writing to the hard drive
  • Windows Media Center: originally only released in Windows XP Media Center Edition, this multimedia center software will be available in most versions of Windows Vista
  • Touch screen support: a feature originally in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition that will be included as a standard component in Windows Vista
  • For a more comprehensive list and additional information on features, please visit Microsoft's website on Windows Vista Features.

Known issues:

  • IE 7 is not compatible with People Soft reporting
  • The time table will be off between the blackberry phone and the PC
  • The current versions of Adobe Systems digital publishing products, such as Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver are not fully compatible with Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system. Learn more about the known problems between some Adobe products and Windows Vista from the following Adobe document. http://www.adobe.com/support/products/pdfs/
    adobe_products_and_windows_vista.pdf

Need CD program (staff / faculty only)

Contact: needcd@umb.edu
Loan: 2 business days
Buy: $15 to buy the DVD, we accept personal check / speed type account.
Support: IT support will be available from August 1st, 2007.