ITS is very excited to offer the following new products on your replacement standard computer. In keeping with our strategic initiative to offer updated technology to the community, the following is a selection of hardware and/or software which have been upgraded or added that ITS wanted to present to you.
Lenovo (PC Windows) Specific
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
If you are replacing your computers on the standard replacement cycle, your current PC operating system is most likely Windows XP Professional. Microsoft introduced Windows 7 in 2009 and has been actively recommending phasing out Windows XP. ITS has adopted Windows 7 32-bit after exhaustive compatibility testing against our standard software, services, and applications.
Presently, Windows 7 64-bit is not fully supported on our infrastructure due to compatibility issues with various hardware and applications on campus. We are continuing our testing and hope to provide additional options to you in the future.
Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus
If you are replacing your computers on the standard replacement cycle, your current Office application suite is most likely Microsoft Office 2007 Professional. Microsoft introduced Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus in 2010 and has phased out Office 2007 from their current software titles. ITS has adopted Microsoft Office 2010 to provide you with the latest software technology to ensure your compatibility with current and future needs.
Apple Specific
Apple Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
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If you are replacing your computers on the standard replacement cycle, your current Apple operating system is most likely Apple Mac OSX 10.5, aka Leopard. Apple introduced Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard in 2009. Apple has been actively phasing out all but the latest operating system in the new hardware it provides. ITS has adopted Apple Mac OSX 10.6 as part of the mandatory vendor change, and we continue to conduct exhaustive compatibility testing to ensure your compatibility with current and future needs.
Microsoft Office 2011
If you are replacing your computers on the standard replacement cycle, your current Office for Mac application suite is most likely Microsoft Office for Mac 2004. Microsoft introduced Microsoft Office 2011 in October 2010 and has phased out Office for Mac 2004 and Office for Mac 2008 from their current software titles. ITS has adopted Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 to provide you with the latest software technology to ensure your compatibility with current and future needs.
Universal Changes
Faronics PowerSave
As part of the Green IT desktop power management efforts, ITS will be providing the Faronics Power Save application on university-owned computers (both Mac and PC). This software will be able to accurately determine when a computer is idle, and switch it to a power-save state (standby). Faronics analyzes CPU, hard drive, application, and peripheral activity before taking any power management actions. With thousands of electronic devices on campus, this could result in significant energy savings, while helping establish a campus-wide awareness of the importance of energy conservation.
The settings are simple and straightforward. Once PowerSave determines that a computer is idle for more than 3 hours (based on CPU, hard disk, application, or peripheral activity), it will put the computer into a low power state call sleep. This state pauses the functions on the computer without serious interruption to the user’s work. Sleep is a low power state that still consumes electricity but offers considerable savings to the regular high-power state.
Sleep mode can be identified by the slow-flashing or blinking power light on your computer. In our testing, bringing a computer back from sleep mode only required the pressing of any key on the computer keyboard or a simple quick press of the power button. Recovery should take several seconds depending on the speed of your computer.
Feedback
If you have further questions or would like to discuss any of these items, please be sure to bring it up with your ITS technician during the computer swap, or you can contact us directly at itshelp@usfca.edu or 415-422-6668.
Please let us know how we can serve you better.
