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Campus Computing Sites News

Important Sites & Software Submission News:

This is an update to the Winter 2002 and Spring 2002 Sites News Bulletins which were published earlier this year. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with their content.

Campus Computing Sites plans to migrate from our current Macintosh operating system to Apple's new Mac OS X operating system by Fall Term 2002. A simplified version of Mac OS X has already been deployed in our sites on the e-mail kiosks called "Cyberstations". We expect to begin migrating our Macintosh workstations to Mac OS X starting August 12 and have it fully deployed in all labs on all Macs prior to the start of classes.

Information about "Mac OS X"

In light of Apple's decision to discontinue further development of Mac OS 9, the Sites Mac Team decided to migrate to Mac OS X in order to stay up-to-date with the latest technology. Mac OS X is built on the "industrial strength" of UNIX, which introduces a lot more security, stability and power to its applications than its Mac OS 9 predecessor. Mac OS X's Unix foundation appeals to a larger group of academic communities (i.e. Physics, Math, research departments, etc.). Many software developers like Microsoft and Adobe Systems have already migrated many of their popular applications to Mac OS X. Consequently, Mac OS X is quickly gaining in popularity due to many of these recent software migrations. Additionally, the Unix foundation is open source, which opens up a wide range of possibilities for both internal and external software development. Ultimately, Mac OS X brings together the best of two worlds: the stability of Unix and the ease-of-use of Macintosh.

Now that the underpinnings of Mac OS X are Unix-based, not all software currently deployed in our Mac OS 9 environment will continue to work in Mac OS X. Many applications will simply not work on Mac OS X; others may work but will either be unpredictable, make other programs unstable or will be missing some functionality. However, Mac OS X includes a technology called "Classic" which allows some old applications to run in a modified OS 9 enviroment -- in effect, it's like running a separate, older operating system inside another, more modern one. While this is possible and perhaps even desirable for a home user, there are issues for an open lab environment like Campus Computing Sites.

Information about "Classic"

  1. "Classic" will be available on all Macintosh workstations in Campus Computing Sites (iMacs and the Macintosh G4's).

  2. Users will not be able to print from applications that run in the "Classic" layer. They will only be able to print from native Mac OS X applications.

  3. The version of "Classic" that will be included on the G4s will be very limited in the system components included. It will be, in a sense, completely "thinned out."

  4. The "Classic" layer will not be included in the the Sites Mac OS X environment after Winter 2003. Thus, any legacy applications will not be supported beyond Winter 2003.

  5. Many applications simply do not work well in the "Classic" layer. Some functionality may be lost or the program may not run at all. Sites Mac is not actively supporting legacy applications; if they do not work, we will not be able to provide support.

  6. All course software submissions must work as designed (printing excepted), with the same robustness as would be expected running under Mac OS 9. We will continue our policy of not deploying software that has had some functionality removed.

Important Information about Macintosh Course Software

The migration from the current Macintosh operating system to Mac OS X by means that currently deployed course software may not be compatible in the new Mac environment. You may need to take some actions to prepare for the change.

  1. Currently installed course software will not be automatically renewed and will be removed from Campus Computing Sites after the Summer 2002 term. This is consistent with Sites' established submission policy.

  2. Anything that isn't explicitly renewed will not be installed. Renewal is available online. (http://www.umich.edu/~sites/instrtech/software/)

  3. To submit software for Fall 2002, applications must be fully functional and written to run natively on Mac OS X, or work with full functionality in our "Classic" environment.

  4. If you plan to hold a class in a Sites Mac lab, you will want to familiarize yourself with operating Mac OS X first so you are comfortable using it in the classroom. A "beta version" of a full-use Mac OS X workstation, with very limited functionality, is available at the Angell Hall computing site (the "Fish Bowl") and the School of Education computing site.

Special considerations need to be made if you have course software that was written for "classic" Mac OS, especially if your software is more than a year old. Faculty who plan to submit software for deployment on Sites' Macintoshes will need to assure compatibility with Mac OS X. Sites Mac will not install software that will make the computer unstable or whose functionality is anything other than what's expected from the product.

Many applications simply do not work well in the "Classic" layer. Some functionality may be lost or the program may not run at all. Sites Mac is not actively supporting legacy applications; if they do not work, we will not be able to provide support. All course software submissions must work as designed (printing excepted), with the same robustness as would be expected running under Mac OS 9. We will continue our policy of not deploying software that has had some functionality removed.

Two Macintosh G4 full-use workstationsare available with Mac OS X 10.1.3 and a selection of Mac OS X-native applications. We encourage you to visit the Sites' lab at either Angell Hall or the School of Education and experience the new operating system yourself. If you have course software you'd like to try out, need administrator assistance or would like help "kicking the tires," please don't hesitate to contact Sites Mac at sites.mac@umich.edu. We would be more than happy to give a show-and-tell or open the machine up so you can install your course software.

Resources
The list of applications that are "made for Mac OS X" is growing considerably. If you have course software deployed in Sites, we urge you to find out if it will run natively on Mac OS X. These sites are helpful to find out if your course software is Mac OS X compatible.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/applications/
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/

Conclusion
It's our goal to help you succeed in teaching effectively. This migration to Mac OS X is considerable but there are terrific gains to be made. We look forward to hearing from you -- we consider you a partner in our endeavors. This is a key opportunity to have a direct effect on our direction. If you have questions or want to voice a concern, simply reply to this e-mail or write sites.mac@umich.edu. Additionally, we'd appreciate it if you could pass this e-mail on to your colleague(s) whom you feel may be affected by the migration or should know more about what Sites is doing with regards to Mac OS X.

We hope that by keeping you informed, you'll be better able to take full advantage of our facilities. Feel free to share your ideas or concerns with us at any time by sending e-mail to sites.suggestions@umich.edu.

08/04/02

Information Technology Central Services | The University of Michigan

Send Comments to: sites-web@umich.edu