Wow.
Microsoft's slogan for its new operating system has generated significant buzz about the company's commercials for Vista, but at Ball State University, University Computing Services is saying 'wow' itself at the response the new software is getting from students on campus.
UCS made Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise available on the bsu.edu/msdownload site about a week and a half ago.
By Monday, UCS tracked 1186 downloads of the software, Sarah LaChat, coordinator of technology documentation and support services, said.
Given that UCS has yet to officially publicize the availability of the software on the site, LaChat said she is very happy with the number of downloads.
UCS will officially launch the free copies of Vista provided by UCS at an official Ball State Vista Launch Day set for March 22 in the Art and Journalism Building to build more traffic, LaChat said.
UCS is working with SGA on the launch day, and current SGA Secretary Michele Faroh said plans to continue with the launch day are concrete, regardless of whichever team won the election Tuesday.
"I thought this would be a great way for the exiting and entering slates, one day after inauguration [March 22], to get involved with different departments on campus," Faroh said.
Faroh said SGA's main role would be to talk with students about the benefits of the new services from UCS and to also listen to any concerns or ideas they would like to see implemented by SGA.
"We are here for the students, and pairing up with offices like UCS is a great way for us to get involved and target different student audiences on campus," she said.
At the event, Jim Crichton, team leader of Enterprise System Services in UCS, said downloads of Vista will be available to be burned on to DVDs, and members of UCS will be available to answer any questions people might have about the new software.
UCS hopes to have a new Vista-compatible Symantec Antivirus download on the bsu.edu/msdownload site so students can install more security features on their computers than those Vista already has in place, Crichton said.
Meanwhile, Ball State students are still free to download and burn copies of Vista Ultimate to DVD for free before the event, though Crichton said if users think they might have trouble with the DVD burn or questions about the install, they might prefer to wait until launch day.
Currently, if students have questions about Vista compatibility or general questions about how to run and install the software they can utilize services from UCS' Tech Time Helpdesk.
Tech Time has been doing close to 20 free analyses of computers a week to see if they are capable to run Vista, LaChat said. The helpdesk works directly from Microsoft's recommended and required system requirements to determine if a desktop or laptop is ready for Vista.
LaChat said UCS is working with the helpdesk to create a number of open house timeslots, when students can come without an appointment to have their computers checked out. Students who will not be able to make it to open house times are free to make an appointment on the Tech Time Web site, at bsu.edu/Tech Time.
Helpdesk coordinator Laura Petty said the most common problem technicians see at Tech Time is insufficient memory on a computer. If the team at Tech Time comes across a computer running less than the required amount of RAM, they will recommend a student not install Vista or upgrade their memory.
Tech Time will also work with the student and the Computer Showcase Center to find out what kind of memory the student needs to upgrade and how much that would cost, Petty said.
Petty said students can also come to Tech Time if they are not capable of burning a DVD, and Tech Time will burn a copy of Vista for them. The burn time for the DVD is approximately 5 minutes, because the software is already downloaded.
Crichton said this might also be an option for students who do not have fast enough Internet connections to download it at that speed.
Web supportUniversity Computing Services made Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise available on the web site about a week and a half ago.
Students can come without an appointment to have their computers checked out. Students who will not be able to make it to open house times are free to make an appointment on the Tech Time Web site.
UCS hopes to have a new Vista-compatible Symantec Antivirus download on the web site so students can install more security features on their computers than those Vista already has in place.
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