Microsoft Windows University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering
 Windows at UW CSE
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The UW CSE computing environment is one in which users can effectively use both Unix and Windows systems. The majority of our effort concentrates on providing essential services (e.g., mail, file access, and printing) as seamlessly as possible. The remainder of this page is intended primarily for users of our Windows systems.

We currently install and support Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7. Our plan is to migrate departmental desktops from Windows XP to Windows 7 over the next 12-24 months (target end date no later than Summer 2011). Windows XP will continue to be supported on legacy hardware in the meantime.

Software

We install a user-customizable set of popular applications on Windows machines deployed to Faculty, Staff, and Grad Students. There is a huge set of applications on the instructional systems. There is also a large collection of Microsoft software available to all faculty and students via the MSDNAA program. MS Office is licensed for machines in labs and offices. Students may purchase MS-Office for personal machines at special pricing.

Since we do not install or support all the software that might be of interest to people, users are generally given local administrator privileges on Windows desktops and you may install other packages you like (provided you are legally entitled to do so!)

Special Hardware

There are two Microsoft Surface computers located in the CSE Allen Center. One is in the CSE Atrium (for all UW) and one on the 3rd floor, in the breakout area (CSE use only). More information: CSE Surface or UW Surface

Mail Services

There are many combinations of client/server for mail services. For information on a particular setup, follow the links below:

File Services

There are several areas of interest regarding Windows file services. You can share files between Unix and Windows using Samba. You can access most filesystems, Unix or Windows, through a central Microsoft DFS (distributed file system) server.

Remote Access

We provide ways that you can tele-commute and use CSE resources and software. If your destination is Unix, we offer several packages for secure computing, including: Reflection X, SSH, and Mindterm. If your destination is Windows, there are two large Windows terminal servers available, aqua.cs.washington.edu for faculty/staff/grad usage and aria.cs.washington.edu for undergraduate use. In special cases, labs are set up for remote usage for PMP students. Faculty/staff/grads can also use remote desktop to thier own machines located in the CSE building. Finally, there is a machine set up for the Faculty to use that is configured identically to the instructional lab machines for testing purposes.

Dual Booting

Thinking about running a dual-boot machine (Windows and Unix)? It carries all the same issues as administering your own Unix system (see previous item), but with additional maintenance issues. You are basically on your own here and will need to install both operating systems yourself.

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Seattle, WA  98195-2350
(206) 543-1695 voice, (206) 543-2969 FAX
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