Support for Computer Equipment
Computer equipment support policy
The rolling support programme is based on a four-year 'life' and comprises two years of full support and two years of partial support.
- Full support - PC or Mac equipment (aged 2 years and less) will run any networked software application.
- Partial support - equipment (aged between 2 and 4 years) will continue to run existing software, but may not be of a sufficiently high specification to run newer releases.
- Unsupported - equipment (over 4 years old) runs at risk; it may continue to operate satisfactorily but there can be no guarantee that it will perform at acceptable levels or that compatible networked software will remain available.
This policy represents an division of resources between the support for existing systems and the development of support for new and updated software products and technologies.
Purchasing recommendations
The current minimum recommended PC system configuration, suitable for future Windows XP and 7 requirements, is:
3.1GHz Core i3 Intel DQ67OW chipset with 4GB RAM, 160GB Hard Disk & 128MB Graphics VRAM.
(For full Windows 7 graphics features the graphics chipset must support DirectX 9 and have 128MB VRAM - see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/system-requirements.aspx for more details).
The current minimum recommended Apple Mac system configuration, suitable for future network and software services, is:
Mac mini 2.3GHz Core i5 or iMac 2.5GHz Core i5 with 4GB RAM and at least a 250GB Hard Disk.
All PC and Apple Mac purchases by schools, departments and divisions should normally be made from approved suppliers.
Supported equipment
The table below shows the supported life of minimum recommended systems.
IBM-Compatible Personal Computer (PCs)
| Min configuration | End of full support: | Not supported after: | Support level: | Power Usage (Watts) | Running cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 1GB RAM 80GB | mid 2007 | mid 2009 | Unsupported | Not available | Not available |
| 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 2GB RAM 80GB 128MB VRAM | mid 2008 | mid 2010 | Unsupported | Not available | Not available |
| 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 2GB RAM 80GB 128MB VRAM | mid 2009 | mid 2011 | Unsupported | Not available | Not available |
| 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo 4GB RAM 80GB 128MB VRAM | mid 2010 | mid 2012 | Partial | 89 | £18 |
| 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo 4GB RAM 80GB 128MB VRAM | mid 2011 | mid 2013 | Partial | 89 | £18 |
| 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo 4GB RAM 160GB 128MB VRAM | mid 2012 | mid 2014 | Full | 89 | £18 |
| 3.1GHz Core i3 DQ67OW chipset with 4GB RAM, 160GB HD & 128MB VRAM | mid 2013 | mid 2015 | Full | 89 | £18 |
Assumptions in the above table:
Working Hours (250 days x 8 hours use per day) = 2000 hours
Cost per kWhr = £0.10
Typical 19" LCD display power consumption = 40 Watts
Apple Computers (Macs)
| Minimum configuration details: | End of full support: | Not supported after: | Support level: | Power Usage (Watts) | Running cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini or eMac G4/1.42GHz iMac G5/1.8GHz PowerMac G5/2GHz all with 1GB RAM | mid 2007 | mid 2009 | Unsupported | Not available | Not available |
| Mac mini Core Solo 1.67GHz iMac Core Duo/1.83GHz PowerMac G5/2GHz all with 1GB RAM | mid 2008 | mid 2010 | Unsupported | Not available | Not available |
| Mac mini Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz iMac Core Duo/1.83GHz PowerMac G5/2GHz all with 2GB RAM | mid 2009 | mid 2011 | Unsupported | Not available | Not available |
| Mac mini Core 2 Duo 2GHz iMac 2.4GHz with 4GB RAM | mid 2010 | mid 2012 | Partial | 64 82 | £13 £17 |
| Mac mini Core 2 Duo 2GHz iMac 2.4GHz with 4GB RAM | mid 2011 | mid 2013 | Partial | 64 82 | £13 £17 |
| Mac mini Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz iMac 3.06GHz with 4GB RAM | mid 2012 | mid 2014 | Full | 64 82 | £13 £17 |
| Mac mini 2.3GHz Core i5 or iMac 2.5GHz Core i5 with 4GB RAM | mid 2013 | mid 2015 | Full | 53 86 | £11 £17 |
Assumptions in the above table:
Working Hours (250 days x 8 hours use per day) = 2000 hours
Cost per kWhr = £0.10
Typical 19" LCD display power consumption = 40 Watts
Apple MacBooks & MacBook Pros of similar age and specification to the above are also supported.
Recommended minimum operating system: OS X 10.6.8 "Snow Leopard" (with all security patches applied).