Lana Douglas
Staff Writer
“Simplify your PC. Fast.” That is the slogan for Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system. Bryan College is expected to upgrade to the new system which will provide students with the most current PC experience possible. The question is “when will Bryan upgrade?”
According to Microsoft’s website, Windows 7 has added new features incuding faster wake-up, a simpler way to compare two open windows and a faster way to clear away excess windows.
One of Windows 7’s new features allows users to quickly minimize all the open windows by grabbing the window one wishes to remain and then shaking it with the mouse causing all the other windows to minimize.
Bryan is considering upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 this coming summer , but Microsoft Office 2010 isn’t scheduled to ship until June or July of 2010. According to Steve Paulson, director of information technology services, this could cause an issue for Bryan if the release date for Office 2010 does not coincide with the installation of Windows 7.
“We don’t want to switch to a different Office right before school starts or as school is starting,” said Paulson.
In order that faculty and staff don’t have to learn a new program every year, the IT Department tries to upgrade to newer versions of Windows and Office at the same time.
“The faculty and staff adjust to both changes at once every couple of years rather than a change every year,” said Paulson.
“We would need to start updating [Windows 7] right after graduation to be ready in time for Office 2010,” said Stefon Gray, former director of information technology services at Bryan.
Gray expects the IT Department to wait until the summer of 2011 so that Bryan can upgrade to the new Windows 7 and Office 2010 at the same time. Paulson and the Technology Steering Committee will meet over Christmas break to discuss when Bryan will upgrade to Windows 7.
Currently all the IT computers have a pre-released version of Windows 7, called “RTM” (released to manufacture). The IT personnel are getting familiar with Windows 7 to make sure that there won’t be any unexpected issues when Bryan switches.
All the computer labs will be included in the Windows 7 upgrade. For Bryan students with laptops, the new Windows 7 upgrade should not cause problems. If Bryan students don’t want to wait for the upgrade, Microsoft is offering a special price to students on its website. Students can buy Windows 7 for $29.99 until January 2, 2010.
To see some of the new features of Windows 7, check out Microsoft’s website at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/what-is-windows-7.aspx