Vista, an Introduction Vista, an Introduction
The Vista operating system provides an opportunity for a more secure computing environment. Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP and software developers have been putting their energies into Vista programs. ITS has already deployed Vista in the ITCs across campus. New computers come with Vista, not XP. You can use the power management options to put your computer to sleep when not using it. So there are plenty of reasons to move to Vista.
Vista has a different look than Windows XP, but it is quite similar to the look of the Office 2007 applications that have been running here since June 2007.
There are many on-line resources to help you use Vista as soon as it arrives. Of course Microsoft has lots of documentation. Look at Getting Started with Vista, especially the information on personalizing your desktop. Working with Files and Folders illustrates and describes file management, how to understand the file folder window, and more. See also Da Costa's excellent Vista Quick Start Guide.
The software organization has changed on the All Programs menu. Because the software developer now controls how a program is named when it is installed, you may find it easiest to use the search box by the Start Button. For example, the quickest way to find Mathematica is to type "math" into the search box, and then selecting the program you want to run, as shown in the illustration. The more of the name you enter in the search box, the fewer the matching options.
You can also find Mathematica by scrolling through All Programs to "Wolfram Mathematica 7."
Because of the way that ANSYS packaged their software, select ANSYS + CivilFEM from the pick list.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is more standards compliant than earlier versions, but until web developers have time to remove from their code specific instructions for older versions of IE, you may notice that web pages that worked with IE before do not work correctly with IE8, the version installed with Vista.
You may find that you need to access some web sites in compatibility mode. At the right end of the address bar URL area is the Compatibility View button, to the left of the Refresh button. When using Webmail with IE8, you need to be in compatibility mode to have all the webmail functionality.
You can find more information on the Microsoft web site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/features/easier.aspx
To the right of the search bar are icons to end your session. The button on the left does not log out; it puts the computer into sleep mode. The button to the right that has the padlock on it does lock the computer. If you want to logout, click the arrow to the right of the lock and select Log Off from the menu.
If you are working in one of the student computer labs - 1245, 1220, 1231, 2301 - be certain to select Log Off. Computers that are locked and unattended will be logged out without saving open files.
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