Directive
IT Services will support Shepherd-owned computing equipment running one of the following operating systems (current as of May 2015):
- Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise Edition
- Apple Mac OS X 10.7 or later
- Operating Systems used by supported mobile devices (e.g., Android, Chrome, iOS, Windows)
The following operating systems are not supported:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 or earlier (including 95, 98, and Millennium Edition)
- Microsoft Windows XP
- Microsoft Windows Vista
- Apple Mac OS 9 or earlier
- Apple Mac OS X 10.6 or earlier versions of the MAC OS X Operating System
Support for desktop Unix and Linux operating systems is on a case-by-case basis; contact IT Services if you have questions.
IT Services does not expect to support Windows 8 on Shepherd-owned machines. The exception may be the Windows Surface and Surface Pro systems. People with personally-owned machines running Windows 8 will receive support as with other supported operating systems.
Rationale
IT Services cannot effectively support operating systems that are not supported by the vendors themselves. This includes all obsolete versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS, and any versions not officially released. Due to limited desktop support resources we cannot provide effective support for Unix or Linux systems.