Medical School Information Systems recently offered advice on which Vista package to purchase for computers that may be used for medical school business. Vista comes in four versions:

• Vista Basic - Lightweight version of the operating system, designed for home use with basic functionality.
• Vista Home Premium - Includes all of the new graphics features, Media Center capability and more entertainment options.
• Vista Business - Designed for business connectivity.
• Vista Ultimate - All of the entertainment functionality of Home Premium with the business connectivity of Vista Business.

For use in the MED environment, Vista Business is recommended; to also use entertainment features, Vista Ultimate is recommended. Vista Home and Home Premium, do not have the business connectivity capabilities to participate in a shared network environment. What this means is that they cannot be configured to readily access network drives, such as H: drives or S: drives. They also are not designed to pass through network credentials, which means a separate login ID on the local computer must be maintained, and it will be required to login to Outlook each time it's used.

Also, please be advised that there are currently many KNOWN incompatibilities with applications and drivers with all versions of Vista. These include, but are not limited to:

• Banner

• Citrix

• Blackboard

• Cognos Reportnet

• Network Connect VPN connectivity via http://vpn.med.wayne.edu

• Some HP Printers

For more information or to receive assistance configuring a business computer, please contact the Helpdesk@med.wayne.edu before purchasing.