University Software Standards

Effective from: Oct 2025
Last Review: Sep 2025

*Remark:

• Item 1 Operating System
  • Windows 11 Enterprise will be released once per year and will be end of servicing after 36 months from release date. Refer to Lifecycle FAQ – Windows.
• Item 4 & 5 E-mail & Scheduling
  • Some features available in classic Outlook are either upcoming, under investigation, unsupported, or only partially available in the new Outlook. Refer to the Feature comparison between new Outlook and classic Outlook.
• Item 9 Secured Shell
  • is required only for users who need to use the software.
  • OpenSSH client is built-in feature in Windows 10 (Build 1809 and later)
• Item 10 Protecting digital information, Data Encryption
  • Microsoft BitLocker is recommended for users who need to handle sensitive information. BitLocker is Drive Encryption technique for OS and Fixed data drives.
  • Microsoft BitLocker To Go is BitLocker Drive Encryption for removable storage devices.

Notes on the selection of University Software Standards:

1. Executive Summary – Adopting Software Standards in the University
2. For all software
   • Both Chinese and English versions are recommended depending on the actual needs of the departments/units.
   • Departments/Units are recommended to watch out for the securities patches/software updates provided by the vendors and install the critical patches when necessary. ITSC will also notify departmental LAN administrators about the critical updates of various software.
3. For Electronic Filing – To read PDF documents, departments/units are recommended to install the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded from Adobe website. Users need to edit PDF document could purchase Adobe Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Pro or Foxit PDF Editor+.
4. For Chinese Character Set – ITSC is implementing a Supplementary Chinese Character Set for the University so that our specially created Chinese characters would be displayed correctly.
5. For the software compatibility with the following campus wide applications, please refer to Tips and Getting Started guide at:
   • CU SAP Financial System;
   • ITSC Service Desk;