2008 Woodie Awards
New Mac OS users see problems with ePrint
By: Tina Mao
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News
Last update: 11/5/07 at 7:27 AM EST
Last update: 11/5/07 at 7:27 AM EST
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Duke students who installed the newly released Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard found that ePrint does not works with the system due to compatibility issues between Popup Client-the window that asks for a student's NetID-and Leopard.
As a temporary fix, the Office of Information Technology has developed and released a workaround solution for Leopard users, available online.
Because Duke purchases ePrint software from the commercial vendor Pharos Systems, a more permanent solution would h ave to come directly from the company, said Kevin Davis, senior manager for academic technology services at OIT.
"[Pharos is] working on an updated version that will work but haven't announced a date when it will be available," he said. "We've been in touch with Pharos, and it's too soon for them to have a timeline."
Until then, OIT is offering a short-term solution similar to the workaround they developed when Windows Vista was released and experienced problems.
But Davis said though students did not upgrade to Vista in large numbers, many have switched to the highly anticipated Leopard, a possible effect of increased Mac ownership at Duke. He estimated that OIT heard from approximately 30 students between Monday and Thursday last week regarding this issue.
"We're actually seeing more concerns about Leopard than we did from Vista, which I suspect is because there is much more active interest around Leopard than we saw with Vista's release," he said.
For some students, ePrint complications are a small price to pay.
Alex Gorin, a sophomore who works for OIT, said he simply e-mails documents to himself and prints at computer labs.
"So far, it hasn't been a big deal," he said. "I only print papers, and when I have articles to read, I've just been reading them off my screen."
Even if he had known that ePrint would not be compatible with Leopard, Gorin said he would have upgraded anyway.
"I actually guessed with 75 to 80 percent certainty that ePrint wouldn't work, but I wanted to upgrade and didn't really care," he said.
Other students, like freshman Susan Carter, said they want to wait until ePrint issues have been resolved before even considering an upgrade.
"I wasn't going to install Leopard, and if it doesn't work with ePrint, then I'm definitely not going to," she said.
Owen Astrachan, a professor of the practice of computer science, recommended that Mac users install Leopard now only if they absolutely need it or have time to play around with the system. Although he already bought five copies, he said he is waiting until winter break to upgrade in order to avoid problems mid-semester.
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