Windows use in medical spaces (Re: vintage computers in active use)

[Maciej W. Rozycki]

On Fri, 27 May 2016, Dave Wade wrote:

> > It makes me wonder how many patients have had to wait on care or didn't
> get
> > proper care because of an IT screwup related to Windows. I have to say
> just
> > _seeing_ Windows on machines in the ER made me livid. I found it
> breathtaking
> > they were that caviler about getting people checked in, keeping records
> > straight, etc... I guess I shouldn't have visited the sausage factory, so
> to speak...
> > 
> 
> What would you expect. Properly maintained, managed enterprise and locked
> down Windows/7 is solid and reliable. 
> In the UK it is hard to use Linux in the "Public Sector" and in the UK most
> Hospitals are Public Sector.
> You can use Linux BUT you must have a support contract in place and run a
> supported distro.
> Having costed this it brings the price up way beyond that of a Windows
> desktop.

 You can surely get a proper Linux support contract -- proper as in: if 
you trigger a bug (which may be anything from a protocol violation, 
through a security hole, to a crash) in the kernel or other core 
component, then you can log it with your support provider's bug tracking 
system and get it fixed with an update release of the offending component 
provided within an agreed reasonable time frame, having live access to the 
bug status throughout the cycle.

 Now can you get it with Windows?  This is a serious question -- I've been 
asking various IT people about it many times over the years, and only got 
evasive answers (if any), but perhaps I asked the wrong people.

  Maciej