<p>At orientation we spoke with an IT staff person at the resource fair. He was adamant that the campus was not ready for the Vista operating system and new students should come with either Windows XP or a Mac. This advice is also in the mailing they sent about a month ago. He did say if you went with Vista you need 2G of RAM. He also said that Kelley wants their students to not have Macs. </p>
<p>When you go to Kelley's website and look at their computer recommendations, it confirms the "no Mac" advice but clearly recommends Vista. </p>
<p>We are currently trying to decide on which laptop to purchase. We know Macs are out. The question boils down to Vista vs. XP. I would rather not buy a system that will be obsolete in the next few years, but I also want to know that my son will be able to get the IT support he needs.</p>
<p>Are any students out there already running Vista? Have there been any problems using it on campus? Does anyone know why Kelley is recommending Vista in direct conflict of the campus IT advice?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Ok, I am by no means a computer expert, but I do know a bit about computers. From what I have read, currently, Vista has some bugs and problems. (one of the biggest being that pcs/laptops simply are not ready for Vista (takes a tone to run)) I heard many people are upgrading right now just so they can get XP on their machine before it is consumed by Vista. So, I personally would choose to get a Thinkpad with XP. </p>
<p>I too am a DA to KSB, only I am an avid Apple user. Currently I have an awesome MacBook Pro (with MS Office of course) but I am a bit concerned about the extra steps I may have to take in order to keep up with the Windows users (majority I assume). Can anyone comment on a simlar situation, or what it might be like for me as a freshman at Kelley in Fall 07? I'll be there, at business school, with a Mac.</p>
<p>violinguy1234 - are you are aware that you can run Windows on your MacBook Pro? I'm not sure why that wouldn't be enough. I am also wondering about the mixed message on Vista, because you can buy Vista on campus! (see <a href="http://iuware.indiana.edu/default.aspx?platform=1%5B/url%5D">http://iuware.indiana.edu/default.aspx?platform=1</a>)</p>
<p>A little bit of information here from someone who works in the computer hardware business in the Silicon Valley (me!):</p>
<p>Vista was designed to work with the new faster chips designed to come out later this year or early next year. The problem with Vista is that it is a memory "hog" as it is currently designed and, while it will work with current computers, is not designed to be optimized with them. It optimizes the "next generation" of computers. One of it's positives is that it is better from a security point of view, but if you run it on a smaller computer (anything less than 2 Gig of RAM) today, you will find that it runs as fast as a drunk snail.</p>
<p>You can go in and turn off a bunch of the programs that Vista launches when it first starts up, but why bother with all that. It is better to run XP on any PC computer you buy today--or else rent a computer for a year, and then get Vista to run on the computers that will come out early next year. </p>
<p>Oh, and as far as security--get either Norton Anti-Virus suite from Symantec--or else my personal favorite--Kaspersky--which updates and checks your email and finds programs trying to attack your computer and deals with them the same way Vista does--but does it on the current XP computers. And also upgrade any computer your buy from 500 Megs of RAM to 1 GIG minimum. The extra cost will run anywhere from $60 to $110, but your student will thank you for the speed increase--which will be very significant.</p>
<p>P.S. The newest thing is a plan by Microsoft to prevent piracy by loading their operating systems directly onto the hard disks prior to the machines being built--either on the platters themselves or by adding it to the flash portion of a hybrid drive. (This hasn't been announced by Microsoft yet, but I think it is pretty common knowledge in the Valley computer business). Thus, in the future the operating systems will be swapped out by upgrading to a new hard drive (whose costs are dropping by about 40% per year)--although the costs will naturally go up a bit to cover the cost of the operating system install.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.</p>
<p>Calcruzer, based on the information you have provided, it appears we are making this major purchase a year too early. That figures! We are going to have to think about the best way to approach this problem. Maybe the IT people are thinking along the same lines about the newer generation machines being available next year.</p>
<p>I wish we had an old XP laptop we could send with him for a year. Oh well, the plot thickens....</p>
<p>Why are Kelley students urged not to buy a Mac?</p>
<p>I think the reason is because the school gets major discounts on software for PCs, but not for Macs. I also think it is because some of the required classes (like K201 The Computer in Business) is teaching you the use of Microsoft programs (Excel and Access).</p>
<p>Of course, if you have a powerbook, it is no problem--but the standards were probably set before the Powerbook could run PC software.</p>
<p>No, I think Calcruzer is wrong about this. IU gets major discounts on Mac software as well as PC software. If you look at the Stat/Math Center, you will see that most software is available at the same price for both platforms.</p>
<p>Well, if that's the case, then I don't know why they would recommend one over the other.</p>
<p>Regarding the Mac software, look at <a href="http://iuware.iu.edu/default.aspx?platform=2%5B/url%5D">http://iuware.iu.edu/default.aspx?platform=2</a>. The links at the very bottom of the page will take you to the software available for PC and Linux. Maybe there is some specific software for business that is only cheap on PCs? Or maybe it is just the usual ill-informed bias against Macs <joke></joke></p>
<p>Well, husband called Kelley directly and spoke with one of their IT people. He was assured that Vista is working fine currently there. They really couldn't explain why campus IT was saying otherwise.</p>
<p>Calcruzer, despite your words of wisdom on the next generation of machines coming out next year, my son has decided he wants to go ahead and purchase a laptop with Vista now. He placed his order with Dell today for an Inspiron 1420. He upgraded the processor to 1.86GHz, it has 2G RAM, Vista Home Premium, and a 3 year in-home service warranty. With the IU discount it came to about $1230. He's happy and I'm happy he's happy. </p>
<p>One word of caution, the estimated ship date is not until 7/22nd. If you are going with Dell, don't wait until the last minute to order.</p>
<p>Ok so i need to start shopping for my laptop and when i was at circuit city last night the laptops i saw already had vista on them. i know y'all have been saying not to buy the program but all the new laptops out right now seems to have it already installed</p>