Windows 7

Background

Windows 7 was released by Microsoft the fall of 2009. The IT-department worked over a longer period of time to develop a client machine setup for Windows 7. This was first tested by the IT-department, and later in the fall of 2010 in some pilot user environments. In December 2010 the client was declared as ready to implement in all the user environments. Today Windows 7 is the most used operating system at UiB, as well as the IT-departments recommended operating system for all new Windows PCs.

Pracical tips and guidance

Here you can find a page with some practical tips and useful information regarding use and setup of Windows 7.

The introduction of Windows 7 at UiB

Why did UiB introduce Windows 7?

The rate of introduction of new operating systems are to some degree controlled by factors outside the IT-departments and UiBs controll: The supplier does at a certain point stop giving support to old systems. That means that there will no longer be security updates available for these systems, making the systems unsafe to use. Microsoft has announced that the support for Windows XP will stop in 2014. By that time, we will have had to discontinue all Windows XP.

Another factor to take into consideration is that there will always be new software that the users want installed on their computer, some of which demand a newer version of the operating system. With the transition to Windows 7, we find that it's often the wish for Office 2010 that motivates our users.

The IT-department is generally quite "conservative" and slow when it comes to changing the operating system. We didn't implement Windows Vista, and we waited a while after Windows 7 came before we started implementing it. That is partially because it is time consuming to implement a new system, and because we want the new versions to be more stable and "mature".

On new computers

New computers will normally be installed with Windows 7, unless other agreements have been made with the user.

Upgrading one user environment at the time

Converting the machines from Windows XP to Windows 7 was a prosject that took on one user environment at the time in the period of September 2011 to May 2012. Not all environments was included in this project. Therefore, if there are any units that want to go through the conversion, please contact områdeansvarlige ved IT-avdelingen.

In order to see which environments that got convertet in the project period, please se prosjekt.uib.no.

You can still use XP

Windows XP will continue to be supported by the IT-department in the foreseeable future. Microsoft has announced that they will stop giving support to Windows XP in April 2014. This date may be changed. Therefore, there will not be any forced transition to Windows 7. Computers bought with Windows XP that are not able to run Windows 7, will be able to be used through out their normal life expectancy with Windows XP. We do want to remind our users that the IT-department does not offer support to machines that are older than 5 years.

frasier seg driftsansvar og brukerstøtte på PC-er som er eldre enn 5 år.

The transition to Windows 7 should therefore not bring any extra costs beyond what is normally used to renew the equipment.

Important changes

The transition to Windows means changes that the users need to know about and relate to. These are changes to i.a new version of software, and that there no longer automatically will be made an install-account on laptops.

We recommend that everyone get to know Windows 7 through our information brochure viktig informasjon til nye brukere av Windows 7 ved UiB! (Soon coming in an English edition)

Which computer can be installed with Windows 7?

Recommended computers are newer than 2007

Computers that are bought through the IT-departments innkjøpsveiledning in 2008 or later, will usually be able to run Windows 7. See the information on PC-modeller som ikke kan brukes med Windows 7.

Incompatible software with Windows 7

There are some software that isn't compatible with Windows 7. See liste. If you are dependent on one of these programs, and there are no newer versions of them that works on Windows 7, you will need to continue using Windows XP.

64-bits

Windows 7 will only be installed with the 64-bits version at UiB. Computers that are to be installed with Windows 7 must have a 64-bits architecture and arkitektur og sufficient computer resources (such as minimum a 60GB harddrive).

Office 2010

There is a seperate page here on IT-help on Office 2010.

Computers at UiB that are installed with Windows 7, also gets Microsoft newest version of the Office package, version 2010. The graphical user interface has changed a lot from Office 2003 to Office 2010, so it may take some time to get acquainted with the new menus.

The most visible change is that the drop down menus and toolbar has been replaced by something that Microsoft calls ribbon. These ribbons consists of tabs, where related commandos are grouped together. This is meant to give a quick access to, and a better overview over available commandos. You will find these ribbons and tabs is all the Office software.

If you are a frequent user of the Office software (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc) and/or an advanced user, it might be smart to consider [a course] to learn more on the ribbon and the new functions.

Training

There are some changes from Windows XP to Windows, considering how the system is used and which functions are available. The IT-department has therefore created a brochure with information on Windows 7 to new users. You can read the norwegian version here.

If you are in need of a course, we would recommend our course provider Visma Ajourit. See itkurs.uib.no for information on when there are courses held, prices and to sign up.

Here you may find more information on Windows 7 from Microsoft (in norwegian):

• "Why choose Windows 7?"
• "Which one works for me"
• "Get started with Windows 7"