Vista compatibility tests: Mostly good news so far
The campus continues to test Vista, Microsoft's new operating system, to see how well it works with various applications. As of early March, many common uses have been found compatible, including SmartSite, MyUCDavis, Geckomail, and Moobilnet, as well as popular commercial products such as Adobe Dreamweaver MX, InDesign CS2, and Photoshop CS2. The word is still out on others.
Volunteers from 15 departments began testing Vista in December to make sure important campus applications would work for early adopters who wanted to upgrade to the new operating system, or for campus users buying new machines with Vista already installed.
The test results--which also include compatibility testing of the new Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7--have been compiled into an alphabetical listing that features the results, notes, and links (if available) to vendor support. For results, and for information about Microsoft licensing specific to campus, click here.
With tests continuing, the campus is reluctant to recommend the upgrade yet. "There's no compelling reason for the upgrade now," said programmer Pete Peterson, from the Data Center and Client Services, in early March. "Most technical departments will wait until the release of Service Pack 1," an upgrade with patches and enhancements.
Users should be cautious, and might encounter integration problems. "While the applications work with Vista, the peripheral items like scanner or printers might not," Peterson said.
Older computers (ones with less than 1 gigabyte RAM or less than 128 megabyte video RAM) will encounter problems with Aero Glass, the new feature of Vista, because Aero Glass runs more ef ficiently on a Vista Premium Ready computer.
A Premium Ready computer meets the requirements set by Microsoft, allowing users to take full advantage of Vista, especially the new Aero technologies.
Volunteers from 15 departments began testing Vista in December to make sure important campus applications would work for early adopters who wanted to upgrade to the new operating system, or for campus users buying new machines with Vista already installed.
The test results--which also include compatibility testing of the new Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7--have been compiled into an alphabetical listing that features the results, notes, and links (if available) to vendor support. For results, and for information about Microsoft licensing specific to campus, click here.
With tests continuing, the campus is reluctant to recommend the upgrade yet. "There's no compelling reason for the upgrade now," said programmer Pete Peterson, from the Data Center and Client Services, in early March. "Most technical departments will wait until the release of Service Pack 1," an upgrade with patches and enhancements.
Users should be cautious, and might encounter integration problems. "While the applications work with Vista, the peripheral items like scanner or printers might not," Peterson said.
Older computers (ones with less than 1 gigabyte RAM or less than 128 megabyte video RAM) will encounter problems with Aero Glass, the new feature of Vista, because Aero Glass runs more ef ficiently on a Vista Premium Ready computer.
A Premium Ready computer meets the requirements set by Microsoft, allowing users to take full advantage of Vista, especially the new Aero technologies.