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US University Dumps Windows to go All Mac

Posted by Zonk on from the shiny-white-plastic-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see dept.

MacKeyser passed us a link to a MacWorld article about a University doing things a little differently. Instead of sticking with their inefficient mix of Apple and PC systems, the college is doing a 'total technology refresh', and adopting an all-Mac policy on the campus. Previously, a class at Wilkes University would be outfitted with something like 20 Macs and 20 PCs, to allow for individual preferences in software and OS use. With Boot Camp students at the Pennsylvania liberal arts college will be able to switch between Windows and OSX, choosing which applications and OS to use at any given time. "[Scott Byers, vice president for finance and the head of campus IT said] 'We think it will save $150,000 directly, in buying fewer units - even though the Macs cost more per unit than PCs.' The school, which enrolls about 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students, will reduce its inventory from nearly 1,700 computers to around 1,450 after the change over. Other costs savings, however, will be harder to measure. 'By standardizing, the IT department should be more productive,' Byers said."

3 of 368 comments (clear)

  1. Headline Incorrect. by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The university is not dumping windows at all.

    They're dumping generic PCs in favour of mac PCs. They'll still purchase windows licenses & allow dual booting.

    It's a hardware story, not a software story.

    --
    There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
  2. Re:Good for them! by PetrusMagnusII · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think you're confusing Liberal Arts with Art.

    Take a look at the undergraduate majors:

    http://www.wilkes.edu/pages/143.asp

    Accounting, Air & Space Studies being the first two on the list...

  3. Re:Monoculture bad ... by macs4all · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you want a windows PC, buy a windows PC. Don't lobotomise a Mac. Windows` strength is the diversity of third-party support, both hardware and software. Why give half of that up and run only on mac hardware? To answer your question, it's no different from only buying Dell or Brand X or whatever. It's just as wrong.

    You obviously have never tried to maintain more than a few computers at a time.

    The main reason IT departments tend to be "monoculture" when it comes to hardware is the sanity of their IT staff.

    You will note that they did NOT create (another) OS "monoculture". The users now have the choice between the two top-selling OSes, and the University gets to buy less hardware.

    Oh, and since they are Macs , they can, through Parallels, even designate some or all of the machines to run nearly any other OS on the planet.

    No other hardware vendor can offer that (at least not legally).

    None. Period.