Microsoft Campus Agreement is a subscription site licensing program specifically created to address the unique needs of higher educational institutions. It is a program that licenses all university machines based upon the institutional headcount rather than the individual machine count.

There are many benefits to the institution that come with the implementation of a Campus Agreement.

• No cost to University departments for included software to be used on University-owned computers.
• Lower overall cost to the University. Pricing under the Campus Agreement is the lowest possible for Microsoft products.
• 24 x 7 access to the latest versions of the software covered under the agreement through the University Software Portal.
• No more internal purchase orders! Elimination of the administrative overhead involved in the purchasing and tracking cycle for individual licenses.
• Predictable budget planning, no spending spikes when a new version is released.
• Instant compliance to copyright law. Every University-owned machine is covered.
• Software Assurance Program; management tools, e-learning courses, legacy PC transition software.

All faculty and staff with an active role at the University are covered by the Campus Agreement; your name must appear in the Rutgers on-line directory.

The Microsoft Campus Agreement covers all University owned equipment.

Yes, one copy of the 'Work at Home' versions are available to faculty/staff (students are not eligible) on CD/DVD only for a fee. This software is only intended for use at home for University related work. Check the University Software Portal for pricing.

For those who don't work on University business at home and would like software for their personal use at home, faculty/staff/students may purchase discounted software under another agreement, the Microsoft Student Select program. Details can be found by clicking the Microsoft Personal Use icon on the University Software Portal

The agreement is for three years with two optional one year extensions.

In the event that the Campus Agreement is renewed and the currently covered products remain in the updated agreement, your license to use the covered software and CAL's will remain in tact. If Rutgers decides not to renew the Campus Agreement, arrangements will need to be made to transition back to perpetual licenses.

The following products are covered under the agreement. All products will be available beginning February 1, 2007 with the exception of Vista Enterprise which will be available on or about March 1, 2007 and the Work at Home versions expected to be available on or about April 2007.

Operating Systems

	32-bit	64-bit
Windows XP Upgrade	X	X
Windows Vista Enterprise Upgrade	X	X

Microsoft Office Versions

	Office 2003 Professional for Windows	Office 2004 Professional for Mac	Office 2007 Enterprise
Access	X		X
Communicator			X
Excel	X	X	X
Entourage		X
Groove			X
InfoPath			X
MSN Messenger		X
OneNote			X
Outlook	X		X
Outlook Business Contact Manager	X
PowerPoint	X	X	X
Publisher	X		X
Virtual PC		X
Word	X	X	X

Client Access Licenses

	Core CAL	SQL CAL
Exchange Server CAL	X
SharePoint CAL	X
Systems Management Server (SMS) CAL	X
Windows Server CAL	X
SQL Server CAL		X

There are no server products included under the agreement; the Campus Agreement covers desktop operating systems only. There are server associated desktop CALs (Client Access Licenses) covered under the agreement, listed in the 'Client Access License' table above. Microsoft server products can still be purchased at discounted prices under another Microsoft agreement, the Select Agreement. Check the University Software Portal for pricing.

Other Microsoft products, i.e. Visio, Project, and server software, are still available for discounted purchase under the Microsoft Select Agreement. Check the University Software Portal for pricing.

For use on University owned computers:
The software may be downloaded, free of charge, for use on University owned computers. If you would prefer to have a CD/DVD for installation of the covered software, you will need to purchase the media from the University Software Portal.

For 'Work at Home' use:
There is no download option for the Work at Home product which require an individual license key that allows for a single installation. Each faculty and staff member may purchase one media kit for each of the Campus Agreement software packages.

There are administrative overhead costs associated with the reproduction and distribution of the media. In the case of the Work at Home product, media kits must be purchased.

There are two ways to save; the Campus Agreement covers upgrades to Microsoft operating systems and full installs of Microsoft's Office. When ordering new equipment, specify the lowest cost Microsoft operating system available from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM); then upgrade under the Campus Agreement to the Enterprise version. Savings of from $15-$60 per machine can be obtained. As full installations of Office are included under the Campus Agreement, savings upwards of $100/machine can be realized by not including Office software in new equipment orders.

No, the 'Work at Home' copy is for University work and must be removed from your computer when you leave the University.

Under the Campus Agreement, Microsoft leases the licenses to the University. This is the most cost effective licensing model. It is renewed annually. Should the Agreement end for any reason, the Office of Information Technology will work with Microsoft to obtain perpetual use rights for any software that was distributed under the agreement. The Microsoft Select Agreement is available to faculty/staff and provides significantly reduced prices for all Microsoft products not included under the Campus Agreement. The licenses are perpetual, meaning the University owns the rights to the software. The University will always be able to use the software versions purchased under the Select Agreement, and departments can upgrade to future versions as long as the Select Agreement remains in effect.

No, those licenses were purchased through the Select Program and are non-returnable. They are perpetual licenses and are still legal to use even if/after the Campus Agreement expires and is no longer in effect.

• Office 2003 Professional for Windows
• Office 2004 Professional for Mac
• Office 2007 Enterprise

The user interface in Office 2007 has been changed significantly. While the changes focus on improving usability, they are substantial and have a somewhat steep learning curve. Users planning on upgrading to Office 2007 should be prepared to set some time aside to learn how to use the new interface. The new interface is based around the 'Ribbon', the band of icons that reveals the options previously buried in the menus.

The file menu has been moved to the Office Button, located in the upper left corner of the applications. This button will reveal the file and printing operations you are familiar with. You also have the option to add frequently used items from this menu to the header of the applications for one-click access. To do so, follow the procedure below:



Click the 'Customize Quick Access' toolbar button above ribbon, labeled as Arrow 1, select the items you would like added to the Quick Access Toolbar, repeat. For items not shown, select 'More Commands' and navigate through the menus for the options you are looking for. This example shows the "Save, Save As.., Print Preview, and Undo" Quick buttons added, labeled as Arrows 2-5.

The file formats for Microsoft Office applications have changed significantly in the 2007 release. The new document formats have been changed to an open XML-based format, which allows for easier integration with competing product suites. The problem that users will notice is that Office saves all documents in the new file formats by default. These file formats are NOT backward compatible with previous office versions and any users who do not have Office 2007 installed will be unable to read them. It is possible that a future service pack for Office 2003 may contain a document converter.

To share files with users of older versions of Office, you must intentionally save the files for backward compatibility. Click the 'Save As' button and change the 'Save as type' option to 'Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)'.

In the default configurations, earlier versions of Office are not able to read or write the 2007 file formats. Microsoft has made an Office Compatibility pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint allowing users to open the 2007 document formats in Office 2000, XP, and 2003.

It is possible to configure Office 2007 applications to save in older file formats by default, although it is not recommended. The document formats in Office 2007 are published, open standards. In time, more applications will be able to open and manipulate Office 2007 documents than documents created by earlier versions. Please keep this in mind.

To configure Office 2007 Applications to save in older file formats:

1. Right-click on the 'Home' tab in the Ribbon toolbar and click 'Customize Quick Access Toolbar...'.
   
   
2. Click 'Save' on the left side of the dialog. Click the dropdown labeled 'Save files in this format', select 'Word 97-2003 Document (.doc)', and hit OK.
   

At this time, Office 2007 Enterprise Edition offered under the Campus Agreement does not currently require activating against Microsoft or Rutgers servers. It is possible that this will change as a part of a later release to more closely follow the Windows Vista activation model.

Vista has been available to faculty and staff for use on university-owned equipment since March 1, 2007.

On or about April 1, 2007.

We are currently awaiting information from our vendor but anticipate a discounted release to students will be made available in April.

Yes, however, the machine must have a valid license for an existing Microsoft operating system. For equipment purchased without an operating system, with a competing operating system (Redhat, Solaris, etc.), or without a valid Microsoft OS license, you must first purchase a full version license of a supported Windows operating system. Subsequent upgrades will then be covered under the Campus Agreement. The exception to this rule is that Bootcamp under OS X is considered a valid operating system for upgrading. Full version licenses are available for purchase through the Rutgers University Bookstore

Yes. The Campus Agreement covers the installation of Windows XP or Vista on a Mac using OSX with Bootcamp or Parallels. This does not require an existing Microsoft operating system license. As with other software covered by the Campus Agreement, this only applies for Macs that are owned by the university.

Windows Vista Enterprise Edition

We are looking into whether or not we can make the Ultimate edition available for purchase at a discounted rate. The Enterprise Edition is the highest edition that we can make available to the University free of charge under the terms of the Campus Agreement.

The Enterprise edition is the highest edition of Windows geared toward business customers. The Ultimate edition is the highest edition geared toward home users. The Enterprise Edition offers all of the features of Ultimate Edition with the exceptions of Media Center, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows DVD Maker. Both editions offer Instant Search, integrated firewall, Windows Defender, User Account Control, the Aero UI (See: What is Aero?), IE7 with protected mode, SuperFetch, Media Player 11, and Photo Gallery. The Enterprise Edition also includes Volume Shadow Copy support, faxing and scanning support, Rights Management Services, IIS 7, support for offline folders and files, and full-drive encryption technology (BitLocker).

Windows Vista provides a new user interface, designed to improve the way you interact with your computer. Usability improvements include a new Explorer, Start Menu, Media Player, Internet Explorer, DirectX 10, and improved speech and handwriting recognition. The audio subsystem of Vista has been greatly improved. From a security standpoint, the built-in firewall has been improved to monitor both inbound and outbound connections and is enabled by default. User Access Control prevents applications from changing critical operating system files. This can help to prevent the accidental execution of malware installers and viruses.

The improvements in the user interface and security place greater demands on hardware. Machines require more RAM and CPU resources to maintain the operating system itself, leaving fewer resources available to applications. At the application level, the security enhancements have introduced various application compatibility issues. These issues will need to be worked out by the software manufacturers. While some manufacturers have already updated their applications for Vista support, many have not. The same applies to hardware manufacturers. Drivers will need to be updated to provide support for Vista.

Yes. The edition of Vista distributed via the University Software Portal to faculty and staff for university equipment will be configured to activate. There are two activation scenarios:

For university-owned computers always connected to the Rutgers Network
The computer will check in to a Rutgers activation server on a weekly basis. The product will remain activated provided it is able to re-establish this communication at least once every few months. If it cannot, Vista will enter a reduced functionality mode.

For university-owned computers kept off-campus
In order to comply with the terms of the Campus Agreement, the Office of Information Technology is developing an application to activate off-campus Vista installations. Users requesting this activation type may be required to submit a questionnairre for confirmation purposes. The application will require an activate Internet connection during the activation process only and will not require Internet connectivity once activated.

The recommended minimum system specifications for Vista are listed below. These include the bare minimum to run Vista (Vista Capable), which will likely result in poor performance, the Rutgers University recommended minimum specifications to run Vista Enterprise (the version available through the Campus Agreement), and the minimum specifications for the Aero experience (See: What is Aero?), Vista's new resource intensive graphical user interface. Note the requirements for Aero are steeper than for the Enterprise version alone. Also, specific hardware in your machine may not have compatible drivers for Vista.

	For Vista Capable	For Vista Enterprise	For Aero Capable
Processor (CPU)	800 MHz (32 or 64-bit) CPU	1.2 GHz (32 or 64-bit) CPU	2.0 GHz (32 or 64-bit) CPU
System Memory	512 MB	1 GB	≥ 1 GB
Graphics Adapter (GPU)	SVGA (800x600) Capable	DirectX 9 Capable (WDDM Support)	DirectX 9 Capable (with a WDDM Driver, Hardware-based Pixel Shader 2.0 support, and 32 bits-per-pixel) *
Graphics Memory	N/A	64 MB	128 MB
Hard Disk Capacity	20 GB	40 GB	40 GB
Hard Disk Free Space	15 GB	> 20 GB	> 20 GB
Optical Drive	CD-ROM Drive	DVD-ROM Drive	DVD-ROM Drive

Computers more than a year old may have trouble running Vista with the Aero interface. Your computer's peripherals will require updated drivers in order to work with the Vista. Older devices may never be supported; it is up to the manufacturer of the peripheral to publish the drivers.

Rutgers University Computer Repair will perform a free compatibility check to help determine whether any steps need be taken before upgrading your equipment to Vista.

The following resources provide Vista compatibility information for the most popular graphics card manufacturers.

Aero is a new visual style introduced with Vista that provides advanced visual styles by way of the 3D processing capabilities provided by modern graphics adapters. It introduces translucent window effects, 3D windows, and window animation. These visual features require that the contents of application windows are stored in memory. The Aero features are optional and can be disabled on machines where performance is favored over aesthetics.


Note the subtle translucency effect on the overlapping windows.

64-bit processors are capable of addressing a much larger memory space in a more efficient manner than 32-bit processors. The benefit is realized most when dealing with very large data sets (i.e., HD video editing, scientific computing, and data mining large data sets). The benefits of 64-bit computing are particularly apparent on machines with more than 4GB of RAM (the maximum amount of memory addressable by 32-bit processors). Current 64-bit capable processors from Intel and AMD are capable of running 32-bit applications, so most existing 32-bit applications will continue to run without any issues. High Definition content will only be playable on 64-bit Windows Vista editions and requires an HDCP connection a display. Most flat panel monitors on the market now do not have HDCP connections.

Drivers for hardware will need to be re-written to support 64-bit processors. While it is only a matter of time before larger hardware manufacturers provide 64-bit versions of their drivers, smaller vendors may never provide 64-bit drivers. 64-bit editions of Windows are not able to use 32-bit drivers for hardware, so any hardware for which there is no 64-bit driver will not work. Windows Vista 64-bit edition is the most cutting edge edition of the most cutting edge operating system, so you should expect more compatibility issues vs. the 32-bit edition.

In order to run the 64-bit edition of Windows Vista or XP, you will need to have an AMD64 processor or an Intel processor with EMT64 support. AMD64 processors can typically be identified by a label on the front of the computer case. Intel processors with EMT64 support include the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, 500 Series, 600 Series, and Core, Core 2 Duo, and beyond. Check with your hardware manufacturer to see whether your particular machine supports 64-bit.

Vista incorporates all tablet functionality from Windows XP Tablet Edition. It improves upon the XP Tablet Edition by learning your handwriting as you make corrections to its recognition. Whether or not your Tablet PC is capable of running Vista depends on it meeting the minimum hardware requirements outlined above.

Vista is a relatively new operating system. Application vendor testing is incomplete and typically lags behind new operating system releases by several months. In addition, since Vista's security model has completely changed, the lag is expected to be longer than average. Product testing needs to be done by your local technical support for all business critical applications. Support for the applications that you depend on may not be available for months and may require special patches and configuration changes to work under Vista. If you discover an incompatibility issue in software purchased from the University Software Portal , please report it to software@mssg.rutgers.edu If any of your business critical applications are known to be incompatible with Windows Vista, it is recommended that you wait until the applications are updated before upgrading.

We have received vendor confirmation that the following product versions are currently incompatible with Vista:

Vendor	Application	Versions	Estimated Resolution Date
SAS	-	< 9.2	Q4 2007
Trend Micro	OfficeScan / RADS	< 8.0	~July 2007*
SPSS	Base, Advanced & Regression	< 15	N/A
		15	Hotfix Available

* A trial version of Trend Micro PC-Cillin Internet Security 2007 is available to Vista users to provide antivirus coverage until an updated RADS installer is made available.

This list is by no means complete and items will be added and removed continuously. The following resources contain additional information that has not been confirmed by the Office of Information technology.

The University's antivirus vendor, Trend Micro, is currently beta testing their managed OfficeScan client for Vista and is working toward a final release sometime in March. In the interim, we are working on a solution to either provide the unmanaged client (PC-Cillin) or to extend our RADS server infrastructure to support the beta version of OfficeScan. More details will be forthcoming.

Yes, Microsoft has published the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, a small piece of software you can run on a Windows XP based computer to report on the likely success and performance of running Vista. Once the scan has completed, the Upgrade Advisor will display the different retail versions of Vista that are available, as well as the associated recommendations for hardware. Rutgers University offers Vista Enterprise as part of the Campus Agreement. However, this version is only available for Volume Licensed Customers, so it will not show up on the Advisor. Hardware recommendations will be the same as the business edition. The Advisor should be used as a measure of your computer hardware's ability to run Vista. Applications will need to be re-installed for a clean install of the Operating System. As Vista is a completely new operating system, not all of the applications currently installed on your machine may function. New versions may be available from your software vendors.

Rutgers University Computer Repair will perform a free compatibility check to help determine whether any steps need be taken before upgrading your equipment to Vista.

If you are running Windows 2000 or Windows XP x64 Edition, you will not be able to upgrade to Vista. Instead, you will need to perform a clean installation. You must make sure to transfer all of your important documents and settings to a temporary location during this time. Microsoft has published the 'Windows Easy Transfer" to assist with this transfer.

Rutgers University Computer Repair will be happy to assist in upgrading your hardware to support Vista.

At this time, the Office of Information technology recommends a phased deployment of Windows Vista. Local technical support should evaluate the compatibility of the hardware and software in use at each department and develop a deployment plan accordingly. We strongly recommend that departments wait for updated OfficeScan servers & client software to be in place before deploying Vista to end-users.

Vista Enterprise edition will install on a new hard drive. The upgrade requirement is a legal requirement of the campus agreement, but it is not enforced by the installer. However, the agreement requires a valid operating system to upgrade/install. You need to maintain/decommission one valid product key for each Windows 2000 and XP machine you install Vista on to be in compliance with the agreement.

Yes. If you have applications that will only run on Windows XP, this might be a viable option. Although the installation can be much more complicated, it is possible to boot to either operating system. If you decide to go this route, we recommend installing Vista on a new hard drive.

When the virtual machine is created, it is recommended to run the sysprep /generalize script to reset the product activation timers. Optionally, if you do not want to generalize all computer settings, you can run slmgr-rearm to reset the product activation timers only. This can only be done a maximum of 3 times.

The Campus Agreement only covers upgrades to OS's. In order to perform a clean install on any machine in which a licenses does not exist, such as a Virtual OS using either VMWare or Virtual PC/Server, no original licenses exists, and therefore the Campus Agreement does not cover the installation. You would need to purchase the full retail version of the OS. The only exception to this rule is running Virtual PC under Vista, in which case the Enterprise version of Vista licenses 4 additional VM's local to the system.

Yes. With the release of Vista comes a large number of new Group Policy Objects for managing and maintaing the Vista OS. Microsoft has published a Vista Security Guide which contain the new settings. With the development of Vista, the ADM files have been changed to ADMX\ADML files.

The Campus Agreement covers University owned equipment for use by faculty and staff. If a SQL server will be used for departmental use by faculty and staff only, the SQL Client Access Licenses will suffice. In instances where a SQL server will be serving the student population and/or the general public, per processor or per device CAL's must be purchased. These licenses are available for purchase from the University Software Portal at discounted rates.