woody

Thanks, I will bear that in mind for next time. It has finally finished now - zoomed along after the updates had come down, but it just seemed to take forever to download 50mbs worth

I have just installed Windows XP S2 on my new desktop PC (I am dual booting with vista ) and now I have run windows update on XP. I left it going overnight because it was taking ages even just to decide what updats were needed. This morning, windows has found 66 necessary updates. I set them off downloading. The whole lot equal 55mb and yet it's till only up to downloading number 45!!! Each of these updates must be on average 1mb in size. Why does it take so long to download such small files on a 10 meg link!!! Grrrr. Frustrating when you want to get the basics done so you can start playing with Vista.

I really like SIMS too but perhaps that's because I have never worked on another MIS. My Brother's school uses CMIS and he has written a lot of his own code to pull out sql data and link in with it. It does look good, and yet I know personally at least one school who have done the whole CMIS thing and found the softare to be full of bugs, and the suport to be abismal. (Thats was a few years ago now, perhaps they've got their act together?) The best thing going for SIMS has been the support, but I speak of it in the past tense. Since Capita cetralised their help line with local support desks now taking calls from all over the country (each support centre specialized in different areas of SIMS) in my opinion this has been a step backward in service. However, I know this depends on where you are because some local help desks are better than others. Ours here in carlisle have been fantastic and still are, but they have to work by the system now and so if I have a problem, I have to ring the national line and hope that they pass it on to the local lads here! The point of the centralisation was to speed up support - capita claim that 70% (if I remember correctly) of calls will be solved on the initial call. This may be true of schools without a knowledgeable SIMS person in school, but for me, I only ring up if it is quite an indepth question, so my calls usually always get logged and I end up waiting days for an answer. This can be very frustrating when I know their are individuals who would know the answer straight away at my local helpdesk. Overall though, SIMS is getting better although they are taking their time over it, something which I am prepared to wait for if they get it right.

Thans for reply mattx. It is only for staff that I am trying to change the policy. Firstly, I can't understand why I am not able to change the settings on a client when logged in as staff - I haven't got any restriction applied in any of the inherited GPs. I have tried to change the following area of GP: Userconfig > Windows Settings > Internet Explorer maintenance > Security. It didn't seem to have an effect. I checked the User Config > Admin Templates > Windows Components >IE and there's nothing set there. Hope this gives you more of a picture as to what is happening

Anybody got any thoughts on this?

Firstly, maybe try out photoshop elements, this may have all you need. We also use Serif Photoplus, looks a little like photoshop and many of the menus are similar, but obviously not quite as powerful. Still does all the stuff you would want though.

What is it that is controlling the security settings in IE on our network. The default level is set to medium, but I can't seem to lower that or change individual settings on any PC on the network, even when logged in as the local administrator. I've checked in group policy to see if a policy is controlling this setting but I can't find one. I created a policy that set the security level to low, but after logging in and out on a PC a few times, and even restarted the PC just to give the policy time to kick in, the settings still remain at Medium. What's going on here? I only want to enable active X to install latest flash player.

Ok, so I got my vista disks (interestingly ramesys have split the DVD across 4 cds), I got the code. Should I try to upgrade my PC from XP? How well will currently installed software work after the upgrade? If I bought two licenses initially, (I purchased them from ramesys under the volume license agreement) is there a limit to how many times I can install with the product key, or is it like XP where basically you are trusted to purchase the number of licenses you plan to use, but there are not actual restrictions on installs. BTW I ask this because I want to install on test machines, but afterward I will probably wipe them. I don't necessarily want vista to stay on them.

We used this last year for maths. Again, no problems that I can remember.

Yes, get your coat and come on round to my house. My wife hates ironing and observing your enthusiasm for the art, I'm sure you would love to get some practise in!

Ah right - so you do have a large number of pcs. We have maybe 250 including laptops here. That explains your upgrade costs.

Cybernerd, how many office licenses did you buy? Either you have a lot of workstations, or you were overcharged for your licenses. Point taken though regarding upgrades / training etc.

We used Exambase from edexcel last year for delivering a Maths test. Found it went very smooth and running on an older server too! But did only test with about 5 pupils so didn't put it fully to test. This is a server / client installation but seemed much more straight forward than the KS3 test installation. Anyone used this?

We purchased AB Tutor a year ago now. Been very pleased with it. I haven't tested it with IE7 yet. I haven't seen policies removed before. We have had the console running on 4 computers at once (two teachers and two techs) and it's been quite stable. However, when creating policies, I do tend to make them permanent since a pupil can log off and on again to remove the policy from his workstation. If I were you, I would ring the support line. I have done so a few times and found the support to be excellent.

Judging from comments so far then, not many of us (and we can expect it to be th same across the country) are planning to continue with the pilot. Is this the general concensus or will we follow recommendations and use the test for 'feedback' purposes?

Thanks

Does anyone have an education phone number for DABS? It's blummin' annoying them not listing any contact numbers on their website! Thanks

I agree that the loyal fan base that apple has acrued can be a little blind over such matters. But many do not fall into that catagory and I include myself in those. I have worked in a school that was (almost) completely Apple based and found it to be a dream. I now work in a school full of Windows PCs and I must admit, I have had a lot more problems. But my view at the end of it is that it is good to have variety and use the right tool for the right job. While apple apply their products to the education field much better than microsoft, I recognise that Windows is the industry standard and so should be used in schools. Our main network is windows, but we have apples too for video editing and music. Perhaps we will introduce Linux desktops in the mix at some point. But in the case of the iphone, I trust that apple will at last give the trusty mobile phone some decent usability that other manufacturers will take a keen interest in.

Why do these conversations always end up with an Apple vs Microsoft debate? You are missing the point. Many phone manufacturers are cramming so many features onto their phones and not giving enough thought as to how you access all these features. Most manufacturers follow suite just copying each other's ideas and trying to match features. You will probably use maybe 20-30% of the features on your phone on a regular basis. Part of the reason for this is that half the features you can't remeber where to find, or you need to get through several menus. Apple put a lot of time into design. Not just so that it looks good, but so that it is simple and quick to use. That is why you pay more for the end product.

Apple claim it has a user interface that is easy to navigate unlike most phones. You are not really paying for features with this phone, like most apple products, you are paying for design and ease of use. To me this phone doesn't look too bad for the first attemp. Give it time, I'm sure the features will appear later, but the interface looks 10x better than my motorola slvr.

With a hefty price tag, probably at least £250, I will have to find justification. I suppose you would pay that for the top model ipod. Also depends on the contract - it looks like apple will team up with a current network provider and offer their own package. But the phone itself looks very nice.

So who's getting one? http://www.apple.com/iphone Got to admit, I've never been impressed by any other mob phone before. I always thought a phone was for phoning people and couldn't be bothered with any other gadgets they might have on them apart from the odd mp3 ringtone. But the iphone has got me drooling I have to admit

I am going to do everything I can to ensure that does not happen. I plan to see what the guys in the other school plan to do ie are they going to stay with the academy...and then working with them have a definate input on network infrastructure and hardware/software solutions before it goes pearshaped with some IT firm going mad and providing totally wrong infrastructures for the purpose of education.

I've just had a thought. Our school is almost certain to merge with another into a city academy in a few years time. Yes, my job is safe but we will end up with nice shiny new computers. And I wonder if anyone can guess what will be on them? Looks like I better order that copy of vista now and get started! When does the next version of MS server come out?

Fantastic! I have run the CD created from offline updates, and that has fixed Windows Update as well sa installing all the updates manually! Thanks to Cybernerd!