RE: Upgrades and Security Requirements...

Charles,

Just to clarify, Windows95 is not supported by Microsoft and Windows98 is
only supported if enough people complain and Microsoft caves in and releases
a patch. For all effective purposes, Windows98 is not going to get new
security patches.

Departments may want to look at the UC's Microsoft Consolidated Campus
Agreement (MCCA), pay a low annual fee per desktop and get access to the
latest OS, server CAL's, latest Office, and other products. For some units
it may be easier to budget a flat recurring cost, than trying to budget
large sums every three or five years.

If departments are still running machines that don't meet the minimum
requirements for Windows2000, they should really check with excess and
salvage. There's a fairly regular stream of machines that exceed the
requirements and get sent to them.

--
Eric Chamberlain, CISSP
Campus Active Directory Architect
Central Computing Services
University of California, Berkeley
http://calnetad.berkeley.edu
 
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-micronet-list@lists.berkeley.edu 
> [mailto:owner-micronet-list@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of 
> Charles E. James
> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 3:50 PM
> To: micronet list; pcsystems@berkeley.edu
> Subject: [Micronet] Upgrades and Security Requirements...
> 
> Good Afternoon, Everyone
> 
> I am sure everyone here has noticed a possible trend but I 
> wanted to put it out there for feedback.
> 
> We now have minimum security standards that when in full 
> effect will run like this (possibly).
> 
> When Microsoft stops supporting a particular platform, i.e. 
> NT, Windows 98/2k, etc, then they will no longer put out 
> security patches/service packs etc, correct?
> 
> If they no longer put them out then when campus security 
> scans and finds a system that is no longer up to date then 
> they will send out a warning. 
> If the warning is not heeded then they cut that system off 
> from the network. This means that those systems will HAVE to 
> UPGRADE the platform to comply with the new security standards.
> 
> Now, Microsoft seems to be heading for a business practice of 
> putting out programs that will no longer be backward 
> compatible and after a version is out a specified period of 
> time they stop supporting the fixes, etc...now, when that 
> occurs will the departments HAVE to upgrade to stay within 
> the standards? If they do, who will HAVE to PAY for the upgrades, etc.
> 
> This could mean a great deal of money, since Microsoft can be 
> expensive, to departments who have relied on their platforms 
> lasting a long time. 
> After all there are some out there still using 95/98/win2k, 
> etc which may become obsolete by the above standards which 
> means the department will have to fork over additional funds 
> to comply.
> 
> With the budget as it is and the lack thereof, will the 
> campus provide that upgrade? If a department can not get the 
> additional funds for their budget to make these upgrades then 
> do they get cut off...where do they go for completing mission 
> requirements with computers...? (there are a lot of 
> workstations out there and that equals a lot of money)
> 
> Just wondering.
> 
> Charles
> 
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Charles E. James, P/A I
> IST/Student Information Systems
> U. C. Berkeley California
> 510-642-8440
> 
> 
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