With the turn of the fiscal year, macOS version 11.x Big Sur transitions from supported status (since December 2020 for Intel-based systems and January 2021 for Apple Silicon-based systems) to supported and recommended. It replaces macOS version 10.15.x Catalina as the recommended version of macOS. As of July 1st, 2021 the current version of Big Sur is 11.4.
Updated May 12, 2021
Following extensive testing by many Penn constituents, Information Systems & Computing (ISC) is approving Apple's M1-based Macs for general use. The current Mac mini (M1), iMac (M1), MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1) are now considered appropriate choices for the University's Mac users who are buying in those product classes.
On December 31, 2020, Adobe formally discontinued Flash Player. Adobe will provide no further security updates for it and will continue to encourage users to uninstall it. Simultaneously, Information Systems & Computing (ISC) removed the Flash Player entry from the University’s supported computing products list.
Lenovo's ThinkPad T14s is an upper-midrange notebook currently available with either AMD or Intel processors. It replaces the T490s (Intel-based) and T495s (AMD-based) systems and marks a change in Lenovo's nomenclature for many ThinkPads. The T continues to mean thinnest mainstream system, while the 14 indicates screen size in inches, and the s means thin and light—at least compared to a normal T-series.
At the end of this month, December 31, 2020, Adobe will formally discontinue Flash Player. Adobe will provide no further security updates for it and will continue to encourage users to uninstall it. Simultaneously, Information Systems & Computing (ISC) will remove the Flash Player entry from the University’s supported computing products list.
Today, November 10th, 2020, Apple announced three significant new macOS-based hardware products and the upcoming release of a new version of the macOS operating system—macOS 11.0 Big Sur.
On September 16, 2020, Apple released version 14 of both iOS and iPadOS, along with updated versions of tvOS and watch OS. Today, Information Systems & Computing (ISC) approved iOS and iPadOS 14.0.1 for general use.
ISC and other Penn constituents have tested iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 extensively. They have not discovered any compatibility issues with various University systems and many current University apps, including the apps and services listed here:
Today, September 16th, 2020, Apple released version 14 of both iOS and iPadOS, along with updated versions of tvOS and watchOS.
Last week, Microsoft formally announced that they will stop supporting their Internet Explorer 11 web browser in their Microsoft 365 applications in August 2021.
At a fascinating and lively Super User Group (SUG) meeting on Monday with Managing Remote IT Work & Support as a topic, computer ergonomics came up quite a few times.