On Thursday, Jan. 18, the Offfice of Technology Services will begin upgrading campus faculty/staff office computers to Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). The upgrade will be done automatically and should be complete by Monday, Jan. 22; deployment is staggered over several days to ensure a smooth release. To receive this upgrade, as well as other ongoing security and performance enhancements, please make sure you logoff your computer but leave it powered on at the end of the workday as routine practice.
Microsoft has been aggressively making IE7 available, and many home users have already received it as a “critical update” through Microsoft Windows Update. This new version provides enhanced security over previous versions of Internet Explorer, as well as some very nice additional features…most notably “tabbed browsing.”
EXCLUSIONS: Computers in smart classrooms are exempt from the January 18 automatic update. They will be “manually” updated on a case-by-case basis in cooperation with the departments that use the rooms. Also, lab computers will be exempt from the January 18 automatic update; each lab manager will be able to decide the best strategy to upgrade to IE7.
BEST PRACTICE: OTS continues to remind the campus community that an important “best practice” is to never power off your computer. Powering off a computer makes it difficult to do preventative maintenance during “off peak” times, and more importantly, the affected computers will face a “backlog” of updates when turned on again. Having to crunch through that backlog will be a challenge for your computer as well as your patience. Again, leaving your computer powered on (but logged off) at the end of the workday is your best bet. Facilities Management recently launched a new energy-saving software product that will reduce electrical waste.
HELP: If you need assistance with Internet Explorer 7 or run into problems, please contact the OTS Faculty/Staff Help Center at 410-704-5151 (2+2+2 on the voice menu).
