Information Technology and Resources
Microsoft Vista, Windows 7 and Office 2010 at JCU
The JCU university-wide position on these products is as follows:
Windows Vista and Windows 7
Windows XP continues to be the supported Windows Desktop Operating System on staff PC desktop and laptop computers at this time. ITR are currently in the process of deploying JCU’s Windows 7 Managed Operating Environment out to JCU owned computers. The deployment is being undertaken in a staged way, with new computers being deployed with the new Windows 7 MOE.
Vista will continue to be the Windows Operating System on computers located in the General Access and Teaching Labs (GATCF) and the Library on both Townsville and Cairns campuses until all software applications that are installed on these computers for both general student usage and teaching have been certified to run on Windows 7. Computers located in Common Teaching Rooms also fall into this category.
ITR have installed a Windows 7 licensing/activation server, which means staff will not have to activate Windows 7 installation at Microsoft's Site.
Office 2010
Microsoft Office 2010 has been released for Windows based computers/virtual environments.This version of Office will not be supported at JCU until all applications that interface with products such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook have been validated to work with 2010. Eg Technology One products.
Backward Compatibility of Office 2007 Applications
2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint now support a new file format (Office XML Format). This means that you will not be able to natively open documents that have been saved in Office 2007 format from your Office 2000, Office XP or Office 2003 applications. If you receive files that have been saved as an Office 2007 document this will be an issue for you.
To overcome this problem Microsoft has released a Compatibility Pack. After you install the Compatibility Pack, you will be able to use your existing version of Word, Excel or PowerPoint (ie versions Office 2000 and later) to open, edit and save files that were produced in Office 2007.
Please note: You must have the latest high-priority Office Updates installed on your computer/laptop before you install the Compatibility Package. Please check with your IT Support person if you are unsure as to whether you have the latest Windows Office updates installed.
You can download the Compatibility Package from the Microsoft Download Centre.
For information on how to install and use the Compatibility Pack go to the Microsoft Help and Support site.
For Information about the new Word, Excel and PowerPoint file formats go to the Microsoft Office Online Products site.
Access Users
Office Access 2007 has a different database format to older versions of Access. Access 2007 now uses .accdb format (not the .mdb file format of previous versions) A database file in the new Access 2007 format cannot be opened or linked with earlier versions of Access.
The Compatibility Pack does not address this issue. Visit the Microsoft Office Online Products site for more information.
JCU Walkabout Wireless Support
Limited support will be provided for students wishing to connect Vista and Windows 7 laptops to the http://cms.jcu.edu.au/libcomp/computing/wireless/index.htmJCU Walkabout Wireless network.
MFD Printing
Printing to MFDs from Vista, Windows and Apple MacOSX10.7 has been tested and is working.