Microsoft released Windows Vista in late January, but the Office of Information Technology (OIT) is advising students wishing to upgrade to the new operating system to consider waiting a few months.
Later this spring, students who bought PCs through the Student Computer Initiative (SCI) will be able to purchase the upgrade for about $10. The least expensive upgrade retails for about $100.
While Vista is the first major Windows redesign in the last five years, only students who bought computers during the current academic year will be able to get the heavily discounted upgrade, Leila Shahbender, who is OIT's customer services manager, said.
She explained that the upgrade is only available for computers bought through SCI this year because of a special licensing agreement with Microsoft that is not available for older machines.
The upgrade also includes the student edition of Microsoft Office 2007, which retails for $149.
Shahbender said the upgrades available to students with new SCI computers will most likely be one of the more feature-rich — and more expensive — business, enterprise or ultimate versions, rather than the most basic version.
Students ineligible for the SCI upgrade will be able to buy the business version, which retails for $199, at a discounted price through the OIT Tech Depot in Frist Campus Center.
But the SCI computers eligible for Vista upgrades may not be able to run all of the features of the new operating system.
Shahbender said that while the "SCI machines are capable of running Vista," they may be unable to run Aero, Vista's graphical user interface.
On its website, OIT recommends that a computer have two gigabytes of memory and a 256 MB graphics card for optimal Vista performance, but the less expensive of the two Dell laptops currently offered by SCI does not meet those requirements.
"We have not tested [the current SCI models] enough to know if Vista can run at its limits," she said. Older laptops purchased from SCI may not have the hardware necessary to run Vista at all.
In addition to potential problems in getting the operating system up and running on most SCI models, OIT is discouraging students from quickly upgrading to Vista "until all Princeton systems can be tested and approved to run in this new environment," the OIT website said.
Incompatibilities could crop up on the University network or on individual computers.
"OIT currently has a project involving different technical staff evaluating Vista, analyzing configurations and the best support models, but this process is just beginning," Shahbender said.
John Kim '10 said he "didn't plan to upgrade" to Vista. "But since it's so cheap," he said, "I think I will probably get Vista."
Some eager students have already upgraded their computers.
Michael Pizer '10, a self-described tech fanatic, owns a top-of-the-line Lenovo laptop that he upgraded to Vista as soon as it was released in late January.
"I didn't have any problem with XP, but I like the cool factor of Vista," he said. "Overall, I think that Vista is a better operating system even without Aero, but I think that the average user would not recognize much of a difference between XP and Vista."
All of the Dell laptops offered by SCI in the next academic year will come preinstalled with Vista. Since the operating system demands more powerful hardware to run all of its features, it is possible that prices will increase for Windows-based SCI laptops.
"We have just started discussions with vendors," Shahbender said, "but we really work hard to get competitive prices."
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