2008 CCI image incorporates Vista

Almost a year before freshmen arrive at college with their new CCI laptops, ITS staff are hard at work figuring out what software these students will need and how to best configure their machines. This year, CCI computers will incorporate the Microsoft Vista operating system for the first time, as well as other specialized software and settings.

After a campus-wide committee of IT professionals discusses what software should be included on each student’s CCI laptop, a team of ITS staff works to create the software package. They don’t just lump all the software together - they painstakingly troubleshoot all issues and bugs caused by the software working together and working with the operating system, and they personalize the machine settings to be appropriate for students at UNC-Chapel Hill. Once they’re done, they make a master copy of the exact ideal configurations, called an “image.”

“This year’s image is the first with Vista, which meant a lot of changes to the CCI image so that all settings would be Vista-compatible,” said David Eckert, CCI program manager. “The 2008 CCI image is fully customized for the UNC-Chapel Hill environment, it has the latest in wireless cards for easy Internet access and it includes software like Microsoft Office 2007 and the Elements versions of Photoshop and Premiere.”

Once the image is ready, ITS images all CCI machines with ImageUltra, a dynamic imaging software suite. This allows for automatic updates to each computer’s image the first time it logs onto the UNC-Chapel Hill network, meaning that student’s computers have up-to-the-minute settings when they receive their computer at CTOPS. Computers are set to search for vital updates, such as Symantic AntiVirus and Windows, automatically.

“The strength of our imaging system is its flexibility,” said Brett Vasu, electronic services manager at the ITRC. “It’s like there’s a computer expert sitting next to you when you turn your computer on, helping you figure out what your computer needs to stay safe and effective.”

To learn more about this year’s CCI image and about the Carolina Computing Initiative, visit http://cci.unc.edu/.