Need to Use Windows 7? Choose Your New Computer Wisely

 

Photo by Nao Iizuka

Usually, when you build or buy a computer, you have lots of choices. What processor to use, how much memory you’ll need, et cetera. You also have a choice in operating systems, like MacOS, Linux; or Windows 7, 8, or 10. As Microsoft works to get as many people on their newest OS as possible, your choices may soon become fewer. Continue reading Need to Use Windows 7? Choose Your New Computer Wisely

Vista’s Out, Creator’s Update is In

TWindows Vista Logooday is the day. April 11, 2017 is the day that Microsoft officially ends support for the beleaguered Windows Vista operating system. First released in 2007, mainstream support for Vista ended five years ago. Now, all support has ended and it moves to the big hard drive in the sky. Continue reading Vista’s Out, Creator’s Update is In

Upgrade to Windows 10 & Office 2016

Windows 10Windows 10 is now available

As of July 1st, new campus computers that are ordered are now delivered with Windows 10 Enterprise. If you have an existing Windows 64 bit computer that you would like to upgrade we are offering the Windows 10 package via the LANDesk software portal (LANDesk Portal Manager). If you utilize or support a lab or shared group of computers and would like to request an upgrade within those areas, or for any Windows computers running a 32-bit operating system, please contact the Help Desk for further assistance.

Visit Microsoft’s operating system support page to find out which operating system you have. To learn more about Windows 10 Enterprise features and changes visit the Windows 10 For Business site.

Office 365Have you taken the plunge and upgraded to Office 2016 yet? Just like Windows 10, Office 2016 is also available via the LANDesk software portal (The LANDesk Portal Manager for Windows clients, or LANDesk Workspaces for Mac OS). From LANDesk,  you can select and download installation on your local system. Uninstalling the previous Office products is recommended, but not required. Please contact the OIT Help Desk if you do not see Office 2016 listed or if you have any difficulty accessing the LANDesk Portal Manager.

Don’t forget, installations off of the campus network require you to sign in to the campus VPN client prior to launching LANDesk. Please note that Office 32 bit will be the standard offering for all Windows systems regardless of the version of your computer’s operating system. For more information visit Choose the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Office.

Not sure of the benefits of upgrading to Office 2016? Check out this lynda.com course: Migrating from Office 2013 to Office 2016.  It will give you all the benefits of 2016 including application upgrades in all your favorite Office products!

Summertime Learning with Lynda

Tall Grass, Blue Sky, and Fluffy Clouds

Lynda.comSummer offers the perfect time to enrich yourself with some summertime learning. With lyndaCampus, you have access to the leading online learning platform that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Here are a few suggested tutorials to learn some new skills, grow professionally, or just have some fun. Continue reading Summertime Learning with Lynda

End of support for QuickTime for Windows

QuickTime for WindowsRecently it was announced that Apple will no longer offer patches and will end support for QuickTime for Windows, their multimedia software package for the Microsoft OS. This move came about shortly after several vulnerabilities were detected in the software. For over five years, Windows has supported popular media formats, such as H.264 and AAC, that were enabled by the installation of Quicktime. Also, all Windows web browsers support online video without the need for plug-ins like QuickTime. Due to these new vulnerabilities, the lack of need for QuickTime for video, and the fact that Apple will not patch the software, OIT is moving to disable QuickTime for Windows on all SMU managed Windows computers starting on June 14th.

For those using video software that requires QuickTime being installed on Windows to enable video codecs, most notably Apple ProRes, this move might affect your workflow. Adobe has been working to remove the dependency on QuickTime for the past couple of years, and their software will now run without the need for QuickTime for Windows. The Abobe Creative Cloud Team had been working to support the missing codecs and only last month was able to announce the support for the native reading of ProRes. The fixes will soon be included in updates to the relevant Creative Cloud software. More information will be on the Creative Cloud blog as it becomes available.

If you need to remove QuickTime for Windows from your home computer, follow the instructions for uninstalling QuickTime 7 for Windows on the Apple support site.

For more information, please see below:

Note: This move will not affect Macintosh OS computers, only Windows OS computers.