Windows 7 Available October 22: IS&T Recommends That Community Members Wait to Upgrade
10/21/2009
Starting October 22, 2009, IS&T will make Windows 7 Enterprise available to faculty, staff, and students for download through the Microsoft Campus Agreement (MSCA). At the same time, IS&T will begin providing limited support of Windows 7 Enterprise for early adopters through the Computing Help Desk. As with previous versions of Windows, MIT departments may install IS&T-provided licenses on all MIT-owned equipment. Additionally, each MIT student is allowed to install Windows 7 on one personally owned computer.
IS&T Recommendation: Wait
IS&T strongly recommends that members of the MIT community wait to upgrade to Windows 7. We are making the operating system available now to empower departments, labs, and centers (DLCs) to decide when to make the move to Windows 7. The timing coincides with Microsoft's release of Windows 7 to the consumer market: IS&T wants to avoid unnecessary purchases of licenses already covered through the MSCA.
Why Wait?
Some products that are critical to productive and safe computing at MIT do not have Windows 7 support from vendors at this time. These include TSM (backup), SAPgui, FileMaker Pro 10, and Cisco VPN 64-bit.
In addition, before they can offer effective help, IT support providers need time to learn Windows 7. Please check with your local support providers for advice on when to upgrade.
Phased Support Plan
IS&T will phase in support for Windows 7 over time. Starting on October 22, we will offer support for
- Configuring network connections (both wireless and wired)
- Activating Windows 7 licenses on MITnet, the campus network
- Installing MIT certificates
- Installing antivirus software (McAfee VirusScan 8.7i with patch 2)
As more software distributed by IS&T becomes compatible with Windows 7, we will increase our support for it and eventually recommend it. IS&T's support for Windows XP Professional and Vista Enterprise will continue well after we make our recommendation for Windows 7.
Getting Help
When you are ready to acquire your copy of Windows 7, visit the MIT Software Download Site [certificates required].
Limited MIT documentation for Windows 7 can be found on IS&T's Windows 7 Enterprise page.
For assistance, contact the Computing Help Desk at 617.253.1101 or computing-help@mit.edu, or submit a request online.
For more details on the Windows 7 Release Project, visit the project notebook [certificates required].
