OCS provides computing support to faculty, staff, graduate students and visitors of the University of Michigan Physics department.

Specifically, we offer frontline desktop and consulting support for major operating systems, limited printing support to OCS’s pool of printers (including a large format poster printer), access to site licensed software, network support services (including some wireless access), a lab of desktop computers for authorized Physics users and visitors, and help coordinating the yearly faculty/staff hardware upgrade programs provided by the college.

Our desktop support (for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux) is offered through a “tiered” support policy - we encourage migration away from very old versions of operating systems and application software when possible (to avoid interoperability and compatibility issues, vendor support issues, etc). As newer operating systems and applications are introduced, vendor support for older versions is eventually phased out, making it much more difficult, if not impossible, to support the older versions. OCS’s policy, therefore, is to provide priority service for newer operating systems and applications over older ones.