Subscribe to the Free Print Edition!
Celebrating 25 Years

GCN Home > 03/19/07 issue

On Vista, feds wait and see

Several agencies issue moratoriums on upgrades while OS undergoes testing

By Jason Miller, GCN Staff

Microsoft Corp.’s Vista operating system includes several new security and collaboration features—two things agencies could use—but that still hasn’t convinced many in the government to install it any time soon.

CIOs and network administrators are far from sold on the need for or benefits of Vista, or of Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 2007. In fact, the Transportation Department, the Army and now the National Institute of Standards and Technology have put an “indefinite moratorium” on Vista installations. The Interior Department is giving serious thought to a moratorium, according to a draft memo obtained by GCN.

The Transportation and NIST decisions were first reported by Information Week.

Interior is considering telling its bureau CIOs and other IT managers that “Windows Vista operating system [will] be restricted to testing in controlled, off-line environments. However, it is equally important that the Department begin preparing for eventual deployment of this new operating system.”

Interior also likely will mandate that newly purchased desktop and notebook PCs that come with Vista must meet minimum OS requirements (for an eventual upgrade), but that Vista must be uninstalled before connecting to the network.

In its memo, Transportation said there is no “compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there seem to be specific reasons not to upgrade.”

Other agencies have decided on a cautious approach to Vista implementation. Molly O’Neill, Environmental Protection Agency CIO, said she hasn’t thought much about moving to Vista. The General Services Administration is not considering moving to the new operating system before 2008, an official said. And Scott Charbo, the Homeland Security Department’s CIO, said his agency has been one of many federal test beds for Vista, but doesn’t think it will be an early adopter. Charbo said he hopes to complete his agency’s move to Vista by 2009, and is budgeting and doing other things to prepare for that move now.

More news on related topics: Communications / Networks, Software Applications, IT Security



GCN Popup