This is a reposting of an email sent to Rice community on 3-1-19.
Dear colleagues,
Since December 2017, OIT has been deploying all new PC computers with the Windows 10 operating system. In August of 2018, OIT migrated all classroom and podium machines to Windows 10 and Office 2016 in order to ensure compatibility with new hardware and software, and take advantage of new features and security improvements.
As you may be aware, Microsoft announced it will no longer support or provide security updates to Windows 7 after January 14, 2020. This presents a potential burden of risk to Rice’s computing environment.
As a result, any Rice faculty or staff members’ systems running Windows 7, will need to be upgraded to Windows 10. We are asking for your assistance to complete an upgrade of your PC system(s) to Windows 10 by December 2019.
Rice OIT has prepared an automated way for you to upgrade your machine(s) to Windows 10 at your convenience. In order to take advantage of the self-service upgrade, your machine must be a member of the Rice’s Active Directory (ADRICE). If your PC is not on ADRICE or you are not sure, OIT can schedule a time with you to facilitate this process and help kick start your Windows 10 upgrade. Once you are running Windows 10, OIT will also have a self-service upgrade available for use of Office 2016.
OIT representatives will be following up and visiting each department over the next couple of months to ensure your migrations are going as smoothly as possible.
If you are ready to upgrade your machine to Windows 10, please contact the Help Desk at 713-348-4357 or submit a request by emailing helpdesk@rice.edu and we will get you started. For more specifics on the migration process and its requirements as well as additional information on features of Windows 10, please refer to the following Rice KB articles.
- Windows 10 Self-service Upgrade Instructions: https://kb.rice.edu/page.php?id=90088
- Windows 7 to Windows 10 FAQ: https://kb.rice.edu/page.php?id=90025
In order to ensure the security and integrity of computer systems running at Rice, any computing device running unsupported operating systems or configured in an insecure manner are subject to restrictions when connecting to the Rice network.
Sincerely,
Mike
Mike Dewey
Director – Campus Services
Office of Information Technology