Holloman to switch computer operating systems Published Sept. 23, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Randahl J. Jenson 49th Wing Public Affairs Office HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M -- Due to the results of a recent inspection of the 49th Communication Squadron, Holloman will be upgrading the current computer operating system over the course of the next year. "We figured out there may be some vulnerabilities," said Master Sgt. Brad Johnson, the operations flight chief of the 49th CS. "We want to move to a newer version of the windows operating system. In order to do that, we have to put some stepping stones in place to make sure that the transition is as smooth as possible." The current platform is not compatible with the system that the 49th CS wishes to replace it with. "The new operating system is not designed to run on a 32-bit platform," said Johnson. "Almost all of the computers on base, besides certain types of computers that run specialized software, are going to be updated to a 64-bit operating system." A bit is a unit to measure data. The more bits a computer has, the more information it can hold. Increasing the amount of information storage is just one step in the process of making Holloman's computer operating system more secure. "What we want to do is plan accordingly and have a strategic approach to how we implement the entire operating system change," said Johnson. "We're still in the planning stage for the migration that should begin very quickly here." While there may be some growing pains with the new changes, the 49th Communication Squadron's priorities remain the same. "The communication squadron is a customer service organization," said Johnson. "We do our very best to take care of our customers and this transition will be no different. The entire purpose behind this transition is securing our network information and making sure we are not the weakest link in the chain."