I'm a K-12 network administrator, so I know where you are coming from in terms of budgetary concerns. However, I encourage you to furthur investigate licensing options before you consider a switch of operating systems. For instance, you can buy a retail box acadmic version of XP Pro with SP2 for less than $70 (Microsoft SKU E85-02670). Other products are also available in academic pricing, like Office 2003.
If you are more forward thinking, you could enter into a School Agreement with Microsoft in which you could acquire volume licensing (greater than 300 units) at an even bigger discount (possibly around $30 per workstation). You could calculate a cost here.
One other thing to note, is that if you can solicit computer donations to your school system, either from parents or community members, you are eligible to free (as in beer) Windows 2000 licensing for such computers. This is called the Microsoft Fresh Start program for K-12.
Also check out K12Computers.com. You can occasionally find some really cheap surplus Dells sold only to K-12.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a K-12 network administrator, so I know where you are coming from in terms of budgetary concerns. However, I encourage you to furthur investigate licensing options before you consider a switch of operating systems. For instance, you can buy a retail box acadmic version of XP Pro with SP2 for less than $70 (Microsoft SKU E85-02670). Other products are also available in academic pricing, like Office 2003.
If you are more forward thinking, you could enter into a School Agreement with Microsoft in which you could acquire volume licensing (greater than 300 units) at an even bigger discount (possibly around $30 per workstation). You could calculate a cost here.
One other thing to note, is that if you can solicit computer donations to your school system, either from parents or community members, you are eligible to free (as in beer) Windows 2000 licensing for such computers. This is called the Microsoft Fresh Start program for K-12.
Also check out K12Computers.com. You can occasionally find some really cheap surplus Dells sold only to K-12.