Rye prepares for Vista

Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007
Written by Noelle Munaretto

Ryerson plans to have Vista installed on computers across campus by the end of fall 2007, but the change will be a gradual one.
“It’s not like a big truck is going to pull up to campus with thousands of copies of Vista,” said Brian Lesser, assistant director of technology support for Ryerson’s Computing and Communication Services.
With over 700 computers in Ryerson labs, Lesser said not all will get Vista.
CCS has a campus license agreement with Microsoft that lets them upgrade to Vista for free. With the launch of a new product, Microsoft’s support for Windows XP may decrease.
“At a certain point Microsoft no longer provides support,” Lesser said. “You can’t stick with an operating system forever.”
But he still wonders how much better Vista is.
“Are there any benefits to Vista? Nothing I’ve seen so far would lead me to say there’s something new and spectacular — but the added security features might help us,” Lesser said.
Vista may be more visually pleasing, but Stephen Mastroianni and Lisa Copeland — both in their third year of ITM — don’t find the aesthetic appeal appealing enough.
“I’ve seen Vista. There’s nothing impressive about it,” Mastroianni said.
Copeland said those who want to spice up their PC can get free downloadable colour and graphic packages on the Internet.