[SATLUG] Footsteps heard by M$

[Daniel J. Givens]

On Thu, 8 Mar 2007 10:04:52 -0600, "Ernest de Leon" <dryicezero at gmail.com> wrote:
> DOT Bans Vista Upgrades
> 
> http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197700911<https://bmwd.us/redirect.php?go=http%3A%2F%2Finformationweek.com%2Fnews%2FshowArticle.jhtml%3FarticleID%3D197700911>

I saw this on Slashdot last night and I'll say what I said there. The DOT put a moratorium on Vista, Office 2k7, and IE7 because there is no good reason to /right now/. Well, the AF has a moratorium on all of them as well. None of them have been approved for use on our network, yet. IE7 was cited as having security flaws and the joint task force over network security said to hold off until they could fully evaluate it. Does that mean the AF won't ever get IE7? No, it just has to be tested and approved by powers on high. This was the case with Windows XP, Office XP, and Office 2003. Not only that, there is a funding issue. The AF buys licenses just like everyone else (that buys licenses). They have to pony up money and that is one thing that isn't quite as abundant as it used to be since we're trying to pay for new planes. Anyhow, to bring it back to the DOT, they are doing what every smart organization does. They are taking the wait and see approach. They have something that works now and since there are no compelling reasons to spend the money and deal with the hassle of new and relatively untested solutions, they are taking a conservative approach.

Will the DOT use Vista, Office 2k7, and IE7 in the future. Undoubtably. They are still a federal organization, which means they have to interoperate with the rest of the federal government. Since the enterprise solution the federal government has adopted nearly across the board is Microsoft provided, they will transition to the newer release, if for nothing else, corporate support. The government is a big whore for paid corporate support. When it comes to IT, If they can't get a contract for support, then the product is useless.