UMBC is site licensed for Microsoft Vista Business and Vista Enterprise on UMBC owned faculty and staff machines. All other versions of Vista (i.e. Ultimate, Home Premium and Home Basic Editions) are not included as part of the campus site license.
UMBC Site License Includes (UMBC Owned Machines)
• Vista Enterprise (UMBC Licensed and Recommended)
• Vista Business (UMBC Licensed, Not Recommended)
Vista Operating Systems Not Included in Site License
• Vista Ultimate (Purchase at Local Retailer)
• Vista Home Premium (Purchase at Local Retailer)
• Vista Home Basic (Purchase at Local Retailer)
Vista Operating System Upgrades Available at Bookstore
• Vista Business Upgrade
Currently our recommendation is that Vista not be installed or ordered on new machines. At this time there are numerous bugs and third party software support problems being reported. OIT is unable to provide support or debug machines that were upgraded or purchased with Vista.
However, those interested in testing and supporting Vista can receive a licensed copy of the Vista Enterprise Edition. Unlike Vista Enterprise, Vista Business does not include features such as BitLocker Drive Encryption. Therefore, OIT will only distribute the Vista Enterprise version to the campus.
Microsoft has implemented a new license management feature, called the Key Management Server(KMS), for large volume sites like UMBC. In order for UMBC’s Vista Enterprise media to work, a work station with Vista Enterprise installed will need to contact the UMBC KMS once a week. If after 180 consecutive days the Vista machine is unable to contact the KMS then it will fall into “Reduced Functionality Mode”, effectively rendering the machine useless after five minutes from boot up.
Timeline:
May 25 – Key Management Server (KMS) will be in production and ready for campus use
May 21 – OIT will have copies of the DVD Windows Vista Enterprise media available at the help desk to be borrowed and copied.
FAQ
Can I Install Windows Vista on Faculty and Staff Machines?
OIT strongly discourages the installation of Vista on any campus machines that need to be reliable and are used for day-to-day business. OIT will not support any machine running Vista. However, if a departmental IT staff member is willing to provide support then Vista may be installed.
Where Can I Purchase Vista Ultimate or Vista Home Edition?
At this time Vista Ultimate and Vista Home Edition can only be purchased at local retail stores. We are hopeful that by mid summer Microsoft will allow Vista Ultimate to be sold via the UMBC bookstore at a reduced cost. If this option becomes available we will post a notification.
Can My UMBC Work From Home With Vista and the KMS?
At this time OIT does not have an effective way to allow connections to the KMS from off campus. If you are using a laptop which will physically be back on the UMBC campus network within 180 days then you will be fine. However, if your UMBC home machine can not reach the KMS for over 180 days then your machine will cease to work and will fall into reduced functionality mode. OIT is working to develop a solution to this problem.