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License Microsoft Sofware with MCCA

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MS Office

Do you need to update Microsoft Office or Windows? Mid-year UC-MCCA enrollments are due December 9th.

Popular Microsoft software is available at reduced cost to UCI through an agreement between UC and Microsoft, the “Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement” or MCCA.  More information on MCCA can be found in a previous IT News article.

MCCA runs on a fiscal year cycle, with orders for the next July 1 fiscal year being placed in early May.  But we now have a special pro-rated mid-year enrollment opportunity for licenses that will be newly deployed on January 1st.  MCCA enrollments are usually coordinated at a department or unit level, so consult with your local IT support or purchasing office to see if your unit is participating in MCCA.

This special mid-year enrollment opportunity ends on December 9th.  If your unit is not yet participating, contact Bob Hudack at x46759 or rjhudack@uci.edu for help in determining if this program is appropriate for your unit.

Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Migration

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Windows Vista Logo

Windows Vista Logo

Microsoft has released new editions of its Windows operating system, Vista, as well as its productivity suites Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Macintosh.  Here is some information NACS has collected to help users and departments adapt to and make optimal use of these new tools.

In the summer of 2007, NACS coordinated a series of workshops, partly funded by a grant from Microsoft.  We are currently planning the next series of workshops.

NACS works with its counterparts at other UC campuses to be sure UCI faculty and staff have access to advantageous licensing programs, including UC-MCCA (the Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement).

We have introduced Vista and Office 2007 in the AIRB training lab, and will expand their availability as demand grows.

NACS and departmental computing support staff can assist faculty and staff deciding when (or whether) to migrate to Vista and Office 2007. Vista requires a higher-performance system to run effectively, and Office 2007 and 2008 introduce new file formats that are incompatible with earlier versions.  Office 2007 and 2008 offer the option to save files in a backward-compatible format, and users of earlier versions of Office can download the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.

Windows Vista runs most software well, but some specialized research or administrative tools won’t run under Vista. NACS recommends purchasers of Vista systems plan to test their most important applications in advance of purchase.

Today, all new PC purchases running Windows come with Vista licenses.  If running Windows XP is important to you, choose a business-class system from a reseller like Dell or HP, and select a Windows XP configuration.  The University’s strategic sourcing reseller, KST Data, offers a variety of systems preconfigured with Windows XP Professional.  Be aware that obtaining the correct XP drivers for hardware designed for Vista may be problematic.

Microsoft last released a service pack (a collection of software updates) for Windows XP in May, and therefore by Microsoft policy, XP will be supported until at least May 2009.  However, Microsoft has not committed to supporting or retiring XP beyond that date.  Interested users can follow Microsoft’s evolving plans for XP at the Windows Service Pack Road Map web site.

Microsoft Purchase Deadline

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Many departments at UCI participate in the UC/Microsoft software leasing program known as UC-MCCA. This is a program for acquiring up-to-date Microsoft software at aggressive discounts. For example, a license for Windows XP with Office is less than $40, compared to around $100 for the typical University license. The program allows software updates whenever new versions are released.

The program can only be used by entire organizational units, and costs are proportional to unit size (FTE). This makes the program particularly advantageous for departments with a large number of computers per person, such as units with computer labs. One downside is that this is a subscription (lease) program, and participating units must plan for recurring annual license costs.

This year’s orders under the UC-MCCA agreement must be placed by May 14. For details (package costs, program details, definition of FTE, etc.) or to consult on whether this program would be a benefit to your unit, please contact NACS.

Windows Security

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A recently announced security problem in Windows will not be fixed for users of Windows NT.

Microsoft has issued a security warning for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems. Bulletin MS03-010, dated 26 March 2002, states that this vulnerability could be used by “an attacker … [to] cause the target machine to fail.”

Microsoft does not plan to provide a fix for it on Windows NT 4.0, which is still being used by various departments at UCI. Microsoft says that they have, “extensively investigated an engineering solution for NT 4.0 and found that the Windows NT 4.0 architecture will not support a fix to this issue, now or in the future.”

So, what’s an NT user to do? Microsoft itself recommends placing such systems behind a “firewall which is filtering traffic on Port 135.” Fortunately, NACS has been running a port blockade on this port since November 5, 2002 (more information on the port blockades). This blockade restricts all off-campus systems and Residential Housing computers sending traffic to these ports on campus.

While this keeps UCI users of Windows NT safe from outside attempts to exploit this weakness, it is prudent for departments to develop a migration strategy away from NT, as Microsoft no longer supports NT nor promises to develop security patches as vulnerabilities are discovered.

New Windows

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Microsoft released the first version of Windows XP (WXP) this year, less than two years after release of Windows 2000 (W2K). Many schools and departments are working to make use of new features in W2K and WXP, including the Graduate School of Management, Health Sciences, University Extension, Network and Academic Computing Services, Claire Trevor School of Arts, and numerous smaller departments.

NACS has sponsored a series of W2K and WXP courses for interested system administrators covering Active Directory (AD) and Windows security issues. There was great interest in those classes from various groups and we hope to facilitate sharing experiences between groups currently deploying Windows and others just planning their migration.

As Windows NT will no longer be supported by Microsoft as of this summer, many departments are assessing their migration paths. Windows XP server, otherwise known as “.Net Server”, is undergoing a series of beta releases and security checks with a final release expected in December. All desktops purchased with Windows should now come with XP, and we consider XP the long-term platform of choice. While some departments migrated to W2K last year, others are now in the awkward position of working with an unsupported operating system (NT) or facing two migrations (W2K and WXP) in short succession.

NACS experts are available to departments assessing their migration needs. We have helped several departments with planning, budgeting, training, and support. If you are interested in investigating a beta release of .Net Server, please contact NACS. We’d be happy to work with you.