Hit: Mac vs. PC (Part 1)

[Lynn Henry <LynnH123@AOL.COM>]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about the wisdom of mixing
Mac and PC platforms in a small school.  My guess is that we'll end up
equipping the new lab with mostly Macs, but adding a few PCs as well (mostly
so we can serve the kids who have IBMs at home).  Here are the responses:

School of 560.
We are completely Mac, use a router and server on an ISDN line to serve
Internet throughout.  Many generations of Mac, including an old SE lab and a
new PowerMac Lab, 6 PowerMacs in the library.
The beauty of staying in one platform is that is greatly reduces the numbers
of variables when you are trying to solve a problem with the network.
Network problems are the pits because their impact is widespread.
Also, easier to get Apple people to advise you.  When you mix vendors as is
so often the case with PCs, they tend to say its probably not a problem with
their equipment/software.  You should call the other guy, who tells you the
same thing.  Pass the buck.  That's my experience with one PC at home.  I
shudder to think what it would be like with a network full of them.
Apple tends to know the software vendors and makes a better attempt at
helping you through the problem.

**************************************
For the past 18 mo. I've served on the technology steering committee.
We are putting an addition on our building, upgrading, networking,
hoping to go state of the art.  A sub-committee on computers met, agonized,
and argued for months.  Finally, 2 weeks ago the committee voted to
go with PCs. (Currently we're all MAC.)    For a long time, I thought the
decision would be dual platform ;  mac lab, pc library (which we'd seen in
schools we visited.)   Now the computer teacher, who only knows apples/macs
is complaining to the people who count.  I find her data erroneous & her
reasoning flawed, but I know she's scared after all these years of macs.
So, I'm not sure how it will end up here.  Parents definitely want the PCs.

**************************************

We made a similar decision at the beginning of this
school year, and posted our criteria and the results
on the Hillside Elementary web site:

http://hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us/whatup/whatup.htm

**************************************

We are a school of the very same size and we had the same problem two years
ago. we decided to stay Mac because of its ease of use and the fact that we
didn't have to worry about buying programs for two platforms. This was
especially important when we started buying site licenses. We also did not
have to teach the students to use a second platform, although most are
exposed to Windows at home. We also didn't have to worry about platforms
when we moved machines around as they depreciate. In the library we picked
up three Macs from the new lab as we acquired newer ones for the lab. All
my software is Mac -- so this really helped me. Also, remember that Mac
Power PC's are supposed to be compatible with NeXT, and that platform
promises to be the wave of the future as Windows-style interface was just a
few years ago (only 1994!). Good luck.

**************************************

The two platforms will mix with no problem under the following
conditions:
1) You use a MSDOS platform file server and run Novell
2) The backbone of your network is Ethernet
We have successfully mixed both platforms at our school without any
problems.  The major issue is financial.  If you are going to be running
applications across the network you have to double up and buy the apps
in 2 versions.  With license prices doubling, this can get very
expensive.  Hope this helps.

**************************************

My kids former elem. school was going to using both.  They had mostly PC's
in the library and both in the "lab" area, if you could call it that, and
finally had a Mac in each class...they were mostly working toward adding
PC's because they were getting better software, support and prices, plus
most of the parents had PC's tho some are adamant Mac users...basically,
most kids were  very versatile about using both with no problem.

At their current schools, both private:  one school just bought a whole lot
of Macs but also has PC's, and the "computer class" the midd. schoolers all
take is in PC's and an older version of WordPerfect, etc.  Both are in the
library, and kids are now hooked up to Internet, tho most use it at home.
At the other private school, the kids are primarily using PC's now, and the
school is slowly evolving from older Mac's to the newer PC's.. Again, the
kids are pretty capable of using both platforms...


**************************************

Are the people who will be running the lab really comfortable with
computers?  What about the staff in general?  Bouncing between Macs and
PCs can be pretty intimidating for people who are not comfortable with
their computer skills in the first place.  I well remember when I was
learning to use a Mac, how often I would "lose" things, only to find
they'd been sitting and waiting for me all the time.  And I'm pretty
adaptable with stuff like that.  Just a thought to keep in mind.

**************************************

Our school is also 9-12, private, but we're only 200 students. The
administration has always been staunch MAC users, but when tecnology was in
its infancy, it was decided to go PCs in library and computer lab. (before
my time, but apparently blood was spilled) Although some folks still believe
we should have remained solely with MACs, we are now networked and have all
sorts of opportunities, and it is good that we offer that choice to
students. I don't "do" the hardware/network work, but I think it has been
o.k. with both platforms. Of course there are glitches and problems, but I
don't know if there are any more than you'd find with any LAN. Most
networkable software offers the second system either free or a much lower
price, so that has not been a consideration.  Need more specifics than that?
good luck!

This probably will not help you with your decision, but this is my first
year in a MAC environment using internet.  Our machines constantly
freeze up using Netscape and they are driving me crazy.  I don't hear
about this problem with PC users.  Again, I am inexperienced with MAC's
but we have six large high schools using them and they are a headache on
the internet.

We have just had a technology meeting with a parent who builds networks for
a living.  Our concensus is to move (eventually) our 17 machine mac lab out
into classrooms and build a PC lab.  Apple's future is a little dubious for
us to be "risking?" what little money we have.  We want a Microsoft NT
network that will easily, I understand, serve both platforms.

I've used both platforms in my media center and I have the fewest problems
with Macs then with the Windows machines. If you are going to be doing
multimedia with kids then macs are the way to go. We have so much trouble
with sound and connecting peripherals to Windows that I really wonder how
Apple could be losing money.
**************************************

Lynn Henry
Concordia Academy
Roseville, MN
LynnH123@aol.com