--- Forwarded Message from Sue Weier <[log in to unmask]> ---
>Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 08:33:47 -0500
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Sue Weier <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #5703 Windows NT
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
------------------
Our computer labs use Windows NT and have installed some of the software
that you mentioned - Paroles, Live From Moscow, Triple Play Plus Hebrew,
and the TOEFL Sampler. We've been able to get these products running with
only a few problems. Problems are more likely to occur with older programs
that access the multimedia elements of the machine - sound and
video. You'll also find that many software packages (especially those that
are slightly older) must be installed through the Administrator account,
rather than the user account. If you try installing while logged in as a
user, you might see an error message citing a problem, or the product may
just not work. In some instances (like Triple Play Plus), the software may
work correctly only when the Administrator account is used. This might
cause problems for you in terms of maintenance and security.
On a more general note - be sure that your computers are on the Microsoft
Hardware Compatibility List before installing NT. You'll have some
interesting times if they're not! NT looks a lot like 98, but has many
more security measures built in. We have customized user profiles which
limit changes to the software or the desktop. We also use policies to keep
students from seeing areas like the Control Panels. The Start Menu is set
up through the All Users profile, meaning that everyone sees the same
selections, and that it can't be changed or added to by students. If
you're working with an NT server, you'll have to deal with the SIDs - the
security identifier numbers that are embedded in the NT Registry. These
must be unique on each machine in order to log into the NT server. If you
use a disk duplication software to initially set up the machines, be sure
that it addresses the SID issue.
Windows 2000 does offer some advantages in the languages. It's based more
on on unicode, while still maintaining compatibility with a wide variety of
language code pages. It also does a better job with the Arabic, Hebrew,
and Thai languages than anything else I've see thus far in the Windows
world. If you're installing any of the popular word processors
(WordPerfect, MS Word), I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised by the
results under 2000. On the negative side though, hardware and software
compatibility is much more limited. At least one of our labs will go to
2000 by Fall 2001.
I hope this helps!
Sue
At 08:07 AM 9/20/00 -0400, you wrote:
>--- Forwarded Message from "Janel Brennan" <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
> >From: "Janel Brennan" <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information
> Forum" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Windows NT
> >Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 17:49:15 -0400
> >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >Importance: Normal
>
>------------------
>Hello-
>
>We will be converting our 21 station computer lab to NT this year and I
>would love to hear from people who have gone through this kind of transition
>and what problems they ran into doing it. Our biggest concern is of course
>the compatibility with our current foreign language software. I've checked
>with several of the companies and they have assured me that their software
>is compatible. However, I am having trouble contacting every company that
>makes the software. If there are people that are currently running NT and
>have some of the software that we have, could you please e-mail me and let
>me know of any problems or things that you ran into? Someone also suggested
>that instead of NT, we might want to go with Windows 2000. I am open to any
>suggestions / help in this area that I am completely unfamiliar with!
>
>Here is our current list of software:
>
>Global Surf
>Atajo
>Arriba
>Japanese Spoken Language
>Nuevos Destinos
>Paroles
>Prego
>Russian-Live from Moscow
>Return From Silence
>Systeme D
>TOEFL Sampler
>Triple Play Plus Hebrew
>Pinyin Master
>Parliamo Italiano
>Parliamo Italiano Now!
>Mai Oui
>
>
>Thank you so much for your help!
>
>Janel :)
>
>---------------------------------------
>Janel M. Brennan, Coordinator, FL Instructional Technology
>The Language Center 1105 Jiménez Hall
>College Park,MD 20742 301-405-6927
>[log in to unmask]
>http://www.inform.edu/LanguageCenter
Susan Weier
Learning Support Services
279 VH, 262-3004
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