Most new PCs will come with Windows 95 or Windows 98 preloaded. Departments should plan to migrate their PCs to at least Windows 95 by upgrading all existing PCs in order to keep all PCs in the office compatible with newly purchased, more powerful PCs. Experience has shown that the published minimum memory requirements for Microsoft products is just that, a minimum. Microsoft will soon be announcing the release of Windows 2000. Suite packages seamlessly combine and integrate several types of software programs such as word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics, so as to be fully compatible, sharing the same data.
Suite packages are usually less expensive than the individual programs and easier to upgrade.
As a result, many departments are changing to suite packages. In addition, suite packages are ideal for operation on a departmental file server, such as a Windows NT Server. The computing environment at the Health Science Center consists of a variety of software packages running under various operating systems on a variety of hardware platforms. Due to the large number of application and networking software packages, Computing Resources regrettably must limit the level of support and the number of software packages supported. Support includes the installation, configuration, and initial use of the software, and requires a Service Request Form.