Campus-wide Support for Microsoft Windows 10 on Staff LAN

 

The hardware requirements for Windows 10 are less demanding than Windows 7. According to Microsoft, your PC should have at least the following configuration:

 

 

 

If PCs are installed by the CSC, default software such as Microsoft Office 2016, Adobe Reader, and McAfee Endpoint Security agent will be installed together with the Windows 10 system. Similar to Windows 7, the Work Desk menu is available to provide access to software as well as common tools and utilities.

 

One important new software running on Windows 10 is its built-in and default new browser called Microsoft Edge. This browser works quite similarly to Internet Explorer (IE) but with some added features and more protection. Even though IE is still available on Windows 10, according to Microsoft, IE will become obsolete and totally replaced by Microsoft Edge in the future.

 

If there is a need to install other softwares, staff can request for the CSC’s software installation service. Besides the software license, staff are required to check the software compatibility with Windows 10 environment prior to sending in the request. You may find useful information on software compatibility at the Microsoft’s Ready-for-Windows website or check with vendors for more information.

 

 

In order to provide a reliable and stable upgrade, an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 on Staff LAN is not supported. For a clean installation, staff are reminded to prepare the followings:

 

 

Staff who are currently using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 are encouraged to switch to Windows 10, though there is no immediate need.  The reason being that Microsoft will cease support for Windows 7 in January 2020 and Window 8 in January 2023. However, moving to Window 10 sooner, e.g. taking the opportunity during the PC upgrade or reinstallation, can avoid the rush.

 

Staff/department who wish to reinstall existing computers with Windows 10 can raise a CSC Work Request.

 

The CSC will install Windows 10 Enterprise (64-bit) on all newly acquired Windows computers by default, unless an explicit and substantive request from staff is received, such as a software in use can only be run on earlier Windows versions.

 

 

One of the controversies concerning Windows 10 is whether Windows 10 is safer or more vulnerable than its predecessors such as Windows 7. It is believed that there is no definite answer since it depends on how we control the system. As discussed in the article on “Windows 10 Security and Privacy Policy” (Ref: December 2016), Windows 10 provides more options to control under the security and privacy policy settings. Therefore, it is important to consider these settings during the implementation of Windows 10. Around 200 policies have been applied to the Staff LAN which deny the access rights to the privacy data. In some circumstances, these policies may restrict some applications from running properly. If this is the case, users may need to turn them off but users must know the risk of making changes to these policies.