MD2015 Beta 02 is available for testing by all staff and this is available for testing either on a physical workstation or via VDI.

Testing MD2015 Beta 02 with VDI

For the first time IS&T have made the Beta available to all staff via vWorkspace which means that is available to any PC or Mac that has the vWorkspace client installed. This is the same service that is used for accessing the Staff Remote Desktop.

The VDI desktop can be accessed by opening the ‘MD Beta Testing’ folder within vWorkspace and selecting the ‘MD2015 Beta 02’ desktop.

Due to licensing restrictions, the Beta 02 VDI desktop is only available for Windows and Mac users.

The Staff Remote Desktop is the supported Remote Desktop service and the MD2015 Beta 02 VDI service will be removed once Beta testing is complete.

Testing MD2015 Beta 02 with physical workstations

If you require this installing please contact the N&I Desktop Team with the name of a test workstation where the image can be installed.

Please do not use this image on production workstations.

Java 8 testing

The Beta 02 desktop is to allow staff to test the new and updated applications within MD2015.

This is specifically a requirement for testing Java, which has been upgraded to version 1.8.

If users use web pages or web applications that require Java then these should be tested within this desktop, and any issues reported via the Helpdesk, ensuring that is is clear that this testing refers to the MD2015 Beta.

Java 1.7 is out of support from April 2015 so we do intend to use Java 1.8 for 2015/16.

Chrome 42

Chrome 42 is the first version of Chrome where Google have removed support for plugins built using NPAPI.

This means that some plugins no longer work within Chrome, including Java JRE. The web pages will still work with Internet Explorer.

New and updated applications within MD2015 Beta 02

The software below is the new and updated software that is installed within the Managed Desktop Beta 02 image before it is installed on workstations.

This is not all the software that is installed within the Managed Desktop image, or the software that is distributed for Teaching and Learning.

The requirements for new and updated software for Teaching and Learning for 2015/16 is a separate project within IS&T that all teaching staff should be aware of.

• .NET Framework .4.5.2
• Java 1.8 Update 40 x86 JRE
• Java 1.8 Update 40 x64 JRE
• Symantic Enterprise Vault Outlook Add-In 11.0.1
• Apple QuickTime 7.7.6
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Re-distributable Setup for x86
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Setup for x64
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 4 Re-distributable Setup for x86
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 4 Re-distributable Setup for x64
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Re-distributable Setup for x86
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Re-distributable Setup for x64
• Application Jukebox Player 8.8.1
• Adobe Reader Document Cloud version 1500720033
• FileOpen Client B954
• Cisco Jabber 10.6.2.59142
• Adobe Shockwave Player 12.1.7.157
• Adobe Flash Player 17.0.0.169
• Chrome 42