Microsoft Hit By U.S. DOT Ban On Windows Vista, Explorer 7, and Office 2007

[unni]

Citing concerns over cost and compatibility, the top technology official at the federal Department of Transportation has placed a moratorium on all in-house computer upgrades to Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system, as well as Internet Explorer 7 and Office 2007, according to a memo obtained Friday by InformationWeek.
In a memo to his staff, the DOT's CIO Daniel Mintz says he has placed "an indefinite moratorium" on the upgrades as "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade."
Among the concerns cited by Mintz are compatibility with software applications currently in use at the department, the cost of an upgrade, and DOT's move to a new headquarters in Washington later this year. "Microsoft Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer [7] may be acquired for testing purposes only, though only on approval by the DOT chief information officer," Mintz writes.
The memo is dated Jan. 19. In an interview Friday, DOT chief technology officer Tim Schmidt confirmed that the ban is still in effect. "We're analyzing different client software options and also integration issues," says Schmidt. Among the options the Transportation Department is weighing as a possible alternative or complement to Windows Vista are Novell's Suse Linux and, for a limited group of users, Apple's Macintosh hardware and software, he says.
Schmidt says the Transportation Department hasn't ruled out upgrading its computers to Windows Vista if all of its concerns about the new operating system -- the business version of which was launched late last year -- can be resolved. "We have more confidence in Microsoft than we would have 10 years ago," says Schmidt. "But it always makes sense to look at the security implications, the value back to the customer, and those kind of issues."
The DOT's ban on Vista, Internet Explorer 7, and Office 2007 applies to 15,000 computer users at DOT proper who are currently running the Windows XP Professional operating system. The memo indicates that a similar ban is in effect at the Federal Aviation Administration, which has 45,000 desktop users.
Compatibility with existing applications appears to be the Transportation Department's major concern. According to a separate memo, a number of key software applications and utilities in use in various branches of the department aren't Vista compatible. Among them are Aspen 2.8.1, ISS 2.11, ProVu 3.1.1, and Capri 6.5, according to a memo issued by staffers at the DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Any prolonged ban on new Microsoft technologies by the federal government could have a significant impact on the software maker's bottom line, as Microsoft sells millions of dollars in software to the feds annually.

Source

 

[freebird]

nice.let the US move to Open SOurce and FLOSS

 

[24online]

i think there is no real new thing in vista which helps ppl & reduce work although has good graphics... but some extent it is complicated too...

IE7, popular in corporate house... but they dont know much abt firefox & opera b/s they dont spend much time on net other than work.... firefox and opera r user-friendly and faster than IE7...

office 2007, it has good features... but ppl who works on 2003, dont want to switch to 2007... b/s 2007 is different view than 2003 and cant get functions easily... cant switch easily from 2003 to 2007...


final conclusion : all 3 new products r just to popularize Microsoft company and its update-mentality means all tech-ppl wants something new version after some time... but all 3 products r req. good hardware configuration and min. 1-2 months time to switch.. if ppl really want to work on it....

 

[Pathik]

hehe.. good news.. they should switch over to linux...

 

[it_waaznt_me]

I found it strange :

Among the concerns cited by Mintz are compatibility with software applications currently in use at the department, the cost of an upgrade,

^^ They are talking about compatibility and they are mooting to move to Mac or Unix ..?? Sounds like a big BS to me ..

And upgrading to IE7 and / or Office 2007 is different from upgrading to Vista. Upgrading to IE 7 and Office 12 is not going to create any compatibility problems for their existing softwares ..

 

[iMav]

nice.let the US move to Open SOurce and FLOSS

it says upgrade not shift

 

[Pathik]

@mav

Among the options the Transportation Department is weighing as a possible alternative or complement to Windows Vista are Novell's Suse Linux and, for a limited group of users, Apple's Macintosh hardware and software, he says.

 

[mehulved]

I found it strange :



^^ They are talking about compatibility and they are mooting to move to Mac or Unix ..?? Sounds like a big BS to me ..

And upgrading to IE7 and / or Office 2007 is different from upgrading to Vista. Upgrading to IE 7 and Office 12 is not going to create any compatibility problems for their existing softwares ..

Well they'll surely loose compatibility while moving to Mac or Linux, but in the longer run compatibility is guaranteed, atleast in linux for most of OSS. I am not familiar about the situation on Mac. So, in the longer term they don't have to worry about compatibility again.
But sure it's strange.
And are they moving anytime soon? To me it sounds they'll wait for a nice long period before moving off to another platform, whichever it is - Mac, Linux or Vista.

 

[it_waaznt_me]

Duh .. Ma point was when they are so worried abount inter program compatability arent they morons to change their OS altogether ..?

 

[mehulved]

But if the alternative OS promises them the compatibility in the longer run then why not?

 

[caleb]

Although I also use Linux, Windows is my primary choice of OS but I don't really see any major compelling reason to upgrade to Vista from XP...other than the eye candy. I was talking to a few of our IT guys in the office and they too do not see any reason to upgrade to Vista or the new office sutite at the moment, coz XP and office 2003 are working fine without any hitches.

Having said that I doubt the motive behind these kind of articles...for an "organisation" the size of federal Department of Transportation it is not a joke to swtich from one OS to another even if it is looking at "long term compatibility". I like the Linux world but I don't like the constant "*****ing"...let Linux succeed on it's own merit without defaming another OS. There are plenty of wonderful things about Linux which need to highlighted without having to "throw dirt" on Microsoft.

 

[anandk]

its NOT a ban. its a MORATORIUM

 

[eddie]

I have just two feelings about this thing:
1) Daniel Mintz wants some bribe from Microsoft to upgrade, or
2) Daniel Mintz wants some bribe from Microsoft to upgrade.

I don't why but I am feeling as though Mr. Mintz is clearly asking for some kind of favour from Microsoft. "Give me something and I'll buy your product". This statement mentioning Novell Linux and Macintosh in the same paragraph with "compatibility" just doesn't piece together into something palatable for me. And then talking about "security implications"? I mean wtf? On paper, Vista looks like the most secure Microsoft OS till date and he doesn't want to upgrade by giving that as a reason? Well...what can I say? Either we have a crazy CIO in the picture or a greedy one. My guts say...its the latter.

 

[csczero]

vista + visuals gr8
- crap

office 2007 + its new
- where is that option ..... mm mmmm it should be somwhere here... **** cant seem to find it ..... uninstall hey bro do me a favor could u bring that 2003 office cd


IE 7 + still better that other browsers
- crashes @ some websites

 

[freebird]

FAA May Ditch Microsoft's Windows Vista And Office For Google And Linux Combo

FAA May Ditch Microsoft's Windows Vista And Office For Google And Linux Combo


*cdn.cmpnet.com/infoweek/spacer.gif
March is coming in like a lion for Microsoft's public sector business. Days after InformationWeek reported that the Department of Transportation has placed a moratorium on upgrades to Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7, the top technology official at the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that he is considering a permanent ban on the Microsoft software in favor of a combination of Google's new online business applications running on Linux-based hardware.
In an interview, FAA chief information officer David Bowen said he's taking a close look at the Premier Edition of Google Apps as he mulls replacements for the agency's Windows XP-based desktop computers and laptops. Bowen cited several reasons why he finds Google Apps attractive. "It's a different sort of computing strategy," he said. "It takes the desktop out of the way so you're running a very thin client. From a security and management standpoint that would have some advantages."
Google launched Google Apps Premier Edition last month at a price of $50 per user, per year. It features online e-mail, calendaring, messaging, and talk applications, as well as a word processor and a spreadsheet. The launch followed Google's introduction of a similar suite aimed at consumers in August. The new Premier Edition, however, offers enhancements, including 24x7 support, aimed squarely at corporate and government environments.
Bowen said he's in talks with the aviation safety agency's main hardware supplier, Dell Computer, to determine if it could deliver Linux-based computers capable of accessing Google Apps through a non-Microsoft browser once the FAA's XP-based computers pass their shelf life. "We have discussions going on with Dell," Bowen said. "We're trying to figure out what our roadmap will be after we're no longer able to acquire Windows XP."
Bowen, however, said he has not definitely ruled out an FAA-wide upgrade to Windows Vista and related software -- if Microsoft can satisfy his concerns over compatibility with the agency's existing applications and demonstrate why such a move would make financial sense given Google Apps's low price. "We have a trip to Microsoft scheduled for later this month," said Bowen.
Like the Department of Transportation, the FAA -- technically under DOT but managed separately -- has its own moratorium in place on upgrades to Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7, and Microsoft Office 2007. Among other things, Bowen said the FAA's copies of IBM's Lotus Notes software don't work properly on test PCs running Windows Vista.

read:
*www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197800480

 

[unni]

That's great news. But I am doubtful about there consideration to use GoogleApps. How secure will it be?

Mary Jo Foley, a ZDNet blogger writes:

What's Microsoft's response to the DOT's charges? A corporate spokeswoman sent me this statement, via e-mail:

"We respect the customer's decision. As with any of our other Federal customers, it's our job to help DOT maximize the value of its Enterprise Agreement through the adoption of our technology. We are engaged with large, strategic customers across government at every level, and are working closely with them on these products through their participation in our Technical Adoption Programs.

"Windows Vista, Office 2007, and IE7 are widely recognized by independent analysts to offer dramatic improvements in security, management features, new collaboration capabilities and productivity enhancements. Ultimately we think we can help DOT understand how these products can help its enterprise organization.

"As DOT goes through the natural process of exploring the new capabilities of these products we expect they will continue to embrace Windows and Office as the departmental standard of DOT.

"Overall our government customers are excited about the technology as well as our product pipeline. Just last week more than 500 Public Sector CIOs from across the country joined us for our annual US Public Sector CIO Summit. The Summit offered these CIOs to see firsthand how Microsoft is working to be a strategic partner to government and educational institutions of every size."

Source

 

[it_waaznt_me]

Bowen, however, said he has not definitely ruled out an FAA-wide upgrade to Windows Vista and related software -- if Microsoft can satisfy his concerns over compatibility with the agency's existing applications and demonstrate why such a move would make financial sense given Google Apps's low price.We have a trip to Microsoft scheduled for later this month," said Bowen
...
Among other things, Bowen said the FAA's copies of IBM's Lotus Notes software don't work properly on test PCs running Windows Vista.

Sigh .. This seems a paradox .. They dont wanna upgrade their OS because their existing applications wont work on it. But they are considering CHANGING their OS .. Whats the guarantee that the applications will work fine on other OS as well as their upgrades ..? ?

 

[ssdivisiongermany1933]

Pity on microsoft , is micrtodoft going towards death ????