Two of Australia's largest federal government departments, the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, have revealed they are not yet seriously examining Microsoft's incoming Windows 7 operating system.
Two of Australia's largest federal government
departments, the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of
Immigration and Citizenship, have revealed they are not yet
seriously examining Microsoft's incoming Windows 7 operating
system.
We haven't tested it yet but it is being considered
DIAC spokesperson
Like the overwhelming majority of large Australian
organisations, both departments currently use Windows XP as their
desktop platform. The ATO has more than 30,000 desktops. Although
the size of DIAC's fleet is unclear, it would be likely to have a
sizeable fleet as it has more than 8000 staff. "We haven't tested
it yet but it is being considered," said a spokesperson for
DIAC.
They added the department was currently putting together a
broader ICT strategic plan that would consider, among other issues,
a future move to a new Windows platform. "We'll move only if it
benefits the department," the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the ATO said the agency had not yet started
planning a Windows 7 move and had no further comment.
The news comes as Australia's largest organisations have started
to express their views on Microsoft's incoming operating system. It
is widely expected to be released in the second half of 2009,
although the software maker has not yet set a launch date for the
software.
However, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service,
which is one of the only large Australian organisations to have
rolled out Vista, said it had no plans to upgrade to Windows 7, as
the priority following the Vista roll-out was to settle into its
implementation and realise its benefits. The Department of Defence too, has no immediate plans.