The computer rooms at the university are celebrating their 30th birthday this year. Just in time for the anniversary, all public PC workplaces are being given state-of-the-art, high-performance devices.
What’s new?
- All PCs and associated keyboards, mice and power supplies
- Windows 11 as the operating system instead of Windows 10
The existing monitors will not be replaced, as they currently meet the requirements. All software products will remain available on the new devices.
How does this work?
Each room will be closed for 3 days at a time during the summer holidays 2024. During this time, the PCs, keyboards and mice will be replaced. The exact times and locations of the closures can be found in the list of locations of the computer rooms.
“We are converting room by room, one after the other. This means that students can switch to other locations and deadlines for seminar or final papers are not at risk,” explains Helmuth Hönigsperger, head of the Public Services team, which is responsible for the exchange.
After the three-day shutdown, the newly equipped rooms are immediately ready for use again.
How good are the new PCs?
The new devices with the latest technology provide optimal support for studying and working: an Intel Core i5 processor with integrated graphics provides sufficient computing power, and 32 GB of RAM ensures smooth operation, even when many applications are open at the same time. #Multitasking anyone?
Why are they being replaced?
In principle, the devices in the computer rooms are replaced every 5 to 6 years. The last time this happened was in 2013 and 2018. This ensures that the workplaces are always up to date with the latest requirements at the university. The ZID also ensures that the new PCs consume as little energy as possible. #EcoFriendlyUpgrade
“This time, the end of support for the current Windows 10 operating system on the devices is also foreseeable,” explains Helmuth Hönigsperger. This is scheduled for October 2025. Since the current PCs are not certified for the new Windows 11 operating system, they have to be replaced in good time.
What else is changing?
The main library is being converted – the PC workplaces there will have to be dismantled. As soon as the conversion is complete, they will be available again.
A few locations will be closed permanently. Helmuth Hönigsperger has good reasons for this: “We can see from the usage figures that some smaller computer rooms have only been visited by very few students since the corona pandemic. This is often the case when there are other workplaces in the same building.” So an alternative computer room is usually “just around the corner”, which keeps the comfort downgrade to a minimum.
“It is more sustainable to close down locations that are hardly used – and it frees up resources that we can use to better equip the other workplaces. We therefore hope for the understanding of the users,” adds Helmuth Hönigsperger.