OS Upgrade - Summer 2025

A number of Smith-issued computers have been identified as running Operating Systems that will soon no longer be supported. Unsupported Operating Systems leave large vulnerabilities in the security of our organization, so it’s important to ensure that all members of the Smith community are doing their work on secure and supported devices.

Community members will be notified by email if their computers are affected, and ITS will apply the upgrade to these devices on July 30, 2025. You also have the option to install the upgrade yourself ahead of that date. Please note that this will require multiple reboots and could take between 30 - 90 minutes, so you may want to do this at the end of a work day.

This upgrade will also apply to shared/lab computers, so leave all shared computers on at the end of the day on July 30 as well. 

The following are some frequently asked questions about what to expect during the upgrade process. 

What does this mean for me?

Your computer will be upgraded to a newer version of its existing Operating System, which may result in some minor changes to the look and feel of your computer, but will not impact your data or how you use your computer.

What do I need to do?

If you want to install the upgrade early, you can follow the instructions found here to upgrade your computer to the newer Operating System. Please note that this will require multiple reboots and could take between 30 - 90 minutes, so you may want to do this at the end of a work day. Otherwise, you will simply need to leave your computer powered on, plugged in, and connected to the internet on the specified date and the upgrade will install overnight. You do not need to be logged into your Smith account. You will then be using the new Operating System when you log in the following morning, so we recommend that you allocate some time to familiarize yourself with the new look the day after the installation.

What will be different after the upgrade?

Changes will be minimal after the upgrade, but you may notice some differences in where certain features are located, as well as some new features that you may not be familiar with. You can read about the changes in Windows 11 here, and the changes in MacOS Sequoia here. 

Are there risks to upgrading my Operating System?

There are no major risks to upgrading your Operating System. Your data and applications should be unaffected, but if you are using any specialty software on your machine or you have a business case for why your computer cannot be upgraded, please reach out to ITHelp@smith.edu with context and the asset tag of your machine and we will assess the request.

What if I need support during or after the upgrade?

We’re here to help! Please reach out to ITHelp@smith.edu if you run into any issues or have any questions at any point of the process.