The Cisco 3750-E and 3560-E Series, which will ship this month, incorporate Cisco's new IOS Software Activation capability announced Jan. 16.

IOS Software Activation means the switches carry all of the IOS software at sale, and an IT shop can decide which of three groups of features to turn on using special keys. Cisco said last month that it plans to expand the activation feature to other products this year, saying it will simplify a user's management of IOS versions running on many network components.

Cisco also unveiled two smaller switches for meeting rooms or constrained spaces, as well as new power enhancement products. All of those products are already shipping or will ship this month, said Fred Weiller, director of switching marketing.

Two university-based IT managers said they have tested the 3750-E switches and hope to buy them in the next year to bolster their Cisco-based networks. But neither said the software activation feature is the main reason they like them.

Kevin Miller, senior manager of network services at Duke University in Durham, N.C., said he hopes to purchase 40 to 50 of the switches sometime in 2007 to bolster more than 1,000 older Cisco 3750 wiring closet switches. But Miller said he will not use the software activation feature, since Duke plans to purchase the switches with all the capabilities the college needs.