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Likewise, older operating systems present their own challenges, including lack of manufacturer and software support, security issues, lack of desirable functions, and increasing effort to support them.

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Today's Operating Systems

Windows, Microsoft

As of September 2013April, 2014:

Current: Windows 7

New / Upcoming:

, Windows 8.1

  • Windows 7 - Legacy system, replaced with Windows 8 in October 2012.
    • 64 bit used for most installations. Required for access to 4GB or more RAM memory.
    • 32 bit used if required for backward compatibility of older applications or drivers.
  • Windows 8.1 -Current Windows- Released October 18, 2013 Windows 8, released in October 2012 for desktop, laptop, and and tablets tablet systems. It intruduced phone-like touch interface and applications, while retain compatibility with older Windows programs. Windows 8 is growing in use and features.
  • Windows 8.1 current Windows- Released October 18, 2013. Provides improved stability and features. We will begin supporting Windows 8.1 during the coming months, along with Office 2013.

Deprecating: Windows XP is now 11 years old, and all manufacturer support and security patches will end in April 2014.

Obsolete: Windows 3, 95, 98, 2000, NT

MacOS, Apple

As of October 2013:

Current: OSX 10.8 – released in 2012. Very good, stable.

New - OSX 10.9, Released 10/22/13. Compatibilty unknown at this point.

  • Even though this OS is "free", please touch base with ChemIT before upgrading. Thank you.
  • As the release date, Symantec anti-virus maker does not have a date when they'll have a client ready.

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    • Provides improved security, optional touch screen interface, Windows App store, and a range of new features.
    • ChemIT can provide Windows 8.1 installation on most machines which are capable of Windows 7.
    • Application and hardware compatibility are very good.
  • Windows Server 2012R2
    • Used for any server or high performance systems

New / Upcoming:

  • Windows 9 in 2015 will provide unified App Store application compatibility between Windows Desktop, Tablet, and Phone operating systems.

Deprecating:

  • Windows Server 2008, Server 2008R2
  • Windows 8.0 - All Windows 8.0 has been moved to the Windows 8.1 platform
  • Windows Server 2012 - All Windows Server 2012 has been moved to the Windows Server 2012R2

Obsolete: Windows 3, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Server 2000, Server 2003

MacOS, Apple

9/5/17: Here is a good resource which shows the Mac OSes still being paid attention to by Apple, at least for their application updates and for security patches related to their OS:

As of April 2014:

Current:

  • OSX 10.8 – Released in 2012. Supported on current installs.
  • OSX 10.9 - Released in 2013. Used for new installs. Required applications are now supported.
    • clean installs only, upgrades over existing OS causes problems.

Upcoming: Not announced

Deprecating:

  • OSX 10.6 - Several applications no longer support 10.6, or Safari 4.1.
  • OS X10.7 - little use in CCB due to to a few functional issues.

Obsolete: OSX 10.5 and older

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Linux versions and updates vary tremendously. ChemIT tries to support one or two primary branches and related tools for new work, and update others when possible.

As of Sprint 2015:

Current:

  • CENT OS 6.45, 64 bit – this is being used for all new Chemistry cluster and workstation builds, along with current compatible cluster management software.
  • CENT OS 6.4 - supported on existing installations
  • RedHat 6.x - special purpose installations

Upcoming: - New Linux versions may appear frequently.

Deprecating:

  • Fedora - (Current version is 19) Some Chem Clusters currently use Fedora 109, 11, 13, and 14. These and 13. (Fedora supports older versions for 2 release revs. Current release is Fedora 20)
    • These older versions, and their tools are either incompatible with newer hardware, or the current cluster management tools. A fresh installation with a current OS is required when adding new nodes.
    • These systems may continue run as is for now with basic support, but should be rebuilt when possible
    . Time to develop Chemistry support for newer Fedora versions is prohibitive
    • .

Obsolete:

  • IRIX, Solaris, Gentoo, SUSE, RedHat 5.x

Categories Explained

Current

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